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10 cops convicted for fake
encounter in Delhi
Pre-planned killing of a criminal is also murder, rules judge
WSN Network
New Delhi: A New Delhi court on Tuesday convicted a suspended
assistant commissioner of Delhi Police and nine other policemen for
gunning down two innocent businessmen 10 years ago in the city's
Connaught Place area.
‘‘It is proved that under the command and supervision of accused ACP
S S Rathi, the other accused fired at the car and its occupants with
the intention to kill,’’ additional sessions judge Vinod Kumar
observed, holding the 10 guilty of murdering Pradeep Goyal and
Jagjeet Singh on March 31, 1997.
Rathi was additionally convicted for destruction of evidence and for
giving false evidence as he had prepared a false report of the case.
The accused had claimed that the killing was accidental as they
thought one of the occupants was gangster Mohammed Yaseen.
The court will pronounce the punishment on October 24. All the
accused face a maximum penalty of death and a minimum of a life
term. The convicted persons are suspended ACP S S Rathi; inspector
Anil Kumar; SI Ashok Rana; head constables Shiv Kumar, Tejpal Singh
and Mahavir Singh; and constables Sumer Singh, Subhash Chand, Sunil
Kumar and Kothari Ram.
While the defence lawyers said they would file an appeal in the high
court, the family members of the victims expressed satisfaction with
the ruling.
‘‘It has been a long fight and justice has prevailed. To set an
example, I want death sentence for the accused,’’ said Goyal’s wife,
Neema.
Tarun Preet Singh, the third man in the car who was injured but
survived, said he was relieved. ‘‘I can feel secure only when they
are all safely behind bars. I want death sentence for the accused,’’
he said.
While agreeing that the incident was one of mistaken identity, the
court — relying on scientific, circumstantial and eyewitness
evidence placed before it by the CBI — indicted the cops for murder,
noting they had planned in advance to kill Yaseen but instead
murdered the two businessmen.
ASJ Kumar further indicted the cops for fabricating evidence as they
had planted a pistol and a few cartridges inside the car to make the
shootout look like a genuine encounter.
‘‘These circumstances prove beyond doubt that the accused persons
conspired to kill Yaseen even if he was unarmed and, therefore, they
were ready with a pistol and cartridges to plant these in the car to
show the occupant fired first,’’ the trial court said.
Invoking the legal doctrine of ‘‘transfer of malice’’ as enshrined
under section 301 of IPC (culpable homicide by causing death of
person other than whose death was intended), ASJ Kumar said Rathi
and his men would have been guilty even if they had killed Yaseen.
17
October, 2007
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