A Delhi court Tuesday convicted 10 Delhi Police personnel, including an assistant commissioner of police (ACP), for gunning down two businessmen.
Ten Delhi cops convicted for 1997 killing of two businessmen
NEW DELHI: For the first time, the Delhi police are being made to pay for encounter deaths. A sessions court has convicted
10 policemen, including a senior officer, for gunning down two businessmen at Connaught Place on March 31, 1997. A team of 10 Delhi Police personnel headed by Assistant Commissioner SS Rathi chased and shot the businessmen Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh in broad daylight in the Capital’s upmarket shopping area. The third occupant of the car the businessmen were travelling in, Tarun Preet Singh, miraculously survived. The police team reportedly mistook them for dreaded Uttar Pradesh gangster Mohammed Yasin and his henchman.
The police claimed they received a tip-off that Yasin and his gang would be meeting in Patparganj and he would be driving a blue Maruti Esteem. Rathi said a car fitting the description was intercepted in Connaught Place. The shootout cost the then Police Commissioner, Nikhil Kumar, his job. Amid a deluge of criticism, the police had admitted to the incident but claimed that it was a case of “mistaken identity.”
Rathi had further added that the occupants of the car opened fire at the police officials.
All through the trial the police team maintained it fired back at the occupants in “self defence” despite forensic reports proving the pistol found in Goel’s car was planted there after the incident.
Following much criticism, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which charged the policemen with gunning down the victims by “indiscriminately firing at them without any provocation.”
In the chargesheet, the CBI said the police team planted a 7.65 mm pistol and live cartridges in the victims’ car to corroborate the claim that Goel and Singh fired first. The CBI alleged the policemen indulged in this “callous” act because they were greedy for promotions.
On Tuesday, additional sessions judge Vinod Kumar found all the accused policemen guilty on charges under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (crime with common intention) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court would declare the quantum of punishment on October 24.
The court also served a notice to ballistic expert Roop Singh under section 344 (perjury) of the Criminal Procedure Code, ordering him to be present in court on October 22 to clarify on the fabricated report.
In the past ten years, seven judges have presided over the case and 74 prosecution witnesses have deposed in court.
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