Bombay High Court Sentences Life Imprisonment To Ex-Cop Pradeep Sharma In 2006 Fake Encounter Case

In connection with a fake encounter case, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced former policeman Pradeep Sharma to life imprisonment. According to the reports, in 2006, Pradeep Sharma killed Ramnarayan Gupta, an associate with gangster Chhota Rajan, in Mumbai. The court termed the policeman "perverse" and "unsustainable" for the job, while scrapping the sessions court's 2013 judgment.

"The trial court had overlooked the overwhelming evidence available against Sharma. The common chain of evidence unerringly proves his involvement in the case," a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse, its judgment said.

The court has also directed the former policeman to surrender in the next three weeks.

"We find that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ramnarayan was killed brutally in cold blood by the accused when he was in their custody and that to cover up the same, given it a color of a genuine encounter," the High Court said in its order.

A total of 21 persons were involved in the case, out of which, 22 were police officers.

The policemen were slapped with conspiracy, fake encounter, and murder charges. However, in 2013, these accused were acquitted following a lack of evidence.

Prosecutor Rajiv Chavan argued that law enforcers committed a cold-blooded murder. The prosecution claimed Sharma masterminded the crime.

WHAT IS LAKHAN BHAIYYA MURDER CASE?

According to the reports, in 2006, police picked up Ramnarayan Gupta and Anil Bheda from the Vashi area in Mumbai and staged an encounter near Versova. The court said police officers, who should have protected the law, abused their powers by faking an encounter.