Action in 20 year-old Hashimpura massacre urged

Lucknow, May 24(UNI) Eminent personalities and representatives of the Voluntary organisations today decried not punishing the guilty 19 PAC personnel facing trial for murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and other criminal charges in Hashmipura massacre even after 20 years of the crime.

On the 20 th anniversary of the incident, a delegation today met state Director General of Police G L Sharma and apprised him of the status of the case and impending punishment tothe guilty PAC jawans.

Mr Sharma told the delegation that he would inquire into the case and will do the needful.

Meanwhile, Hashimpura Legal Advisory Committee chief Vrinda Grover today filed an application under the Right To Information(RTI) to know what departmental action was initiated against those indicted by the CB-CID probe and to provide the list of the last rank held by all those indicted by the agency.

The application also urges to inspect and thereafter take copies of relevant pages of any departmental inquiries conduct by the PAC and on those indicted by the CB CID.

According to the incident of May 22,1987, the PAC men took into custody about 50 mulsim men from Mohalla Hashimpura, Meerut and took them in a PAC truck(URU 1493) to upper Ganga canal, Murad Nagar and Hindon canal. The PAC fired at them and threw the bodies into the canal. Over 40 men were killed and others seriously injured.

Later, the UP government handed over the inqiry into these killings to Crime Branch Central Investigation Department(CBCID).

Presently, the case is underway in the Supreme Court and the survivors of the killing are being examined by court with the prosection has cited 164 eyewitnesses in the case.

UNI