A Mumbai court on Friday acquitted former encounter cop and dismissed police officer Pradeep Sharma of all the charges in the 2006 alleged fake encounter of Ram Narayan Gupta, a suspected aide of gangster Chhota Rajan.
But another senior cop and accused Pradeep Suryawanshi who was leading the encounter team was convicted of murder. Twenty others, including 13 policemen, were convicted by sessions judge VD Jadhwar. The sentence is likely to be pronounced on Monday.
As per the prosecution, on November 11, 2006, a police team picked up Ram Narayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya from Vashi on suspicion that he was a member of the Chhota Rajan gang, along with Anil Bheda. The same day, Lakkhan Bhaiya was killed in an encounter near Nana Nani Park in Versova.
On November 15 the same year, Lakhan Bhaiya’s brother advocate Ramprasad Gupta moved the Bombay high court alleging that the encounter was “fake” and it a was a case of “brutal murder”.
In February 2008, the high court ordered a magisterial inquiry into the fake encounter. While the magistrate concluded that the killing was a “cold-blooded” murder, the Bombay HC in September 2009 constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case. Encounter specialist Sharma, the key accused in the case, was arrested by the SIT on January 8, 2010.
On March 13, 2011, Bheda went missing from his home in Vashi, just four days before his scheduled court deposition.
His wife moved a habeas corpus petition in the high court, alleging he had been kidnapped and may have been killed.
Her fears were proved true two months later when the Navi Mumbai police recovered an unidentified decomposed body in June and DNA tests confirmed it was of missing Bheda.
Special public prosecutor advocate Vidya Kasle said: “I accept that it is a huge victory as 21 accused have been held guilty. But the main accused and conspirator Pradeep Sharma has been acquitted of all charges.” — With agency inputs
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