On February 22, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court sentenced four Uttar Pradesh police officers to life imprisonment in 1996 fake encounter case that happened in Ghaziabad. Four police officers who are found guilty of killing four daily wage earners in a fake encounter that took place two decades ago, include Station House Officer, sub-inspector and two constables.
The name of the police officers found guilty are Lal Singh (SHO of the police station), Yogendra Singh (Sub- Inspector), Ranvir Singh, Surya Bhan and Subhash (constables).
There were total five police officers, however, Ranbir Singh died during the course of trial. The horrific incident took place in November 1996 when policemen gunned down four persons—Jalaluddin, Jasbir, Ashok and Pravesh—stating that they were criminals. But the truth that emerged after the forensic report had an altogether different story to tell. All four of them had become victim to fake encounter.
As reported by Hindustan Times, on November 8, 1996 all four victims were sitting at a tea stall near Machri chowk also known as ‘Macheri ki puliya’ in Bhojpur when a police jeep carrying some accused of a different case crossed them. Reacting on the encounter, police officials had said that the four men opened fire at them and got killed in retaliatory firing.
#FLASH Bhojpur (Ghaziabad) 1996 fake encounter case: CBI Court sentences 4 Police officials to life imprisonment. pic.twitter.com/s3rSZByoWw
— ANI (@ANI_news) February 22, 2017
Also, the CBI court under section 302 has also imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on Lal Singh, Rs 1 lakh on Yogendra Singh, Rs 50,000 each on Subhash and Surya Bhan. The CBI prosecutor said, “The society demands that all the four policemen should be hanged”.
