Case of murder against 15 UP cops for fake encounter

Robertsganj, Feb 22 (UNI) A case of murder has been lodged against 15 policemen, including four sub-inspectors in connection with a fake encounter here two year ago, which had resulted in the killing of two persons.

Official sources here today said Police Superintendent (CBCID-Sonebhadra) Raghuvir Lal, on the basis of a CID enquiry, lodged the case against the policemen. These include Jai Nath Mishra, Kamlesh Pratap Singh, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Rameshwar Ram -- all sub-inspectors -- Rakesh Singh, Kesh Bihari Rai, Shahjahan Khan, Ashok Kumar, Pramod Kumar Yadav, Dinesh, Satish Kumar, Chandrika Yadav, Rana Pratap Singh, Shiv Shankar Singh and Ravindra Nath Maurya, all constables.

Sources said two years ago in an encounter in the Rantola area of the Sonebhadra district, the cops had gunned down two youths -- Prabhat Srivastava and Rama Shankar Sahu -- and later identified them as criminals.

The cops, concerned, however, did not hand over the two bodies to the relatives of the deceased and instead cremated the corpses.

Later, the relatives of both Srivastava, a student of Allahabad University and Sahu, a native of Garhwa in neighbouring Jharkhand, charged the police with murdering two innocent youths and later labelling them as criminals.

Compelled by the protests on the issue by the voluntary organisations, the then district magistrate of Sonebhadra had ordered a magisterial probe into the entire episode. In the probe then ADM Ramkrishna had on the basis of available facts the 15 cops guilty for murdering the two innocent youths and recommended necessary action against the errrant police personnel, sources added.

Expressing disagreement with the report, the then SP (Sonebhadra) had recommended for a CBCID probe into the matter. A CBCID probe was hence ordered by them DM Alok Kumar into the matter, sources said.

The CBCID findings also confirmed the conclusions of the earlier magisterial probe and recommended case of murder be lodged against the erring cops. Following this a murder case was lodged against the 15 police personnel at the Pipri police station by Raghuvir Lal SP CBCID-Sonebhadra, official sources added.

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