18 cops convicted for fake encounter of MBA student in Dehradun

Seven out of 18 policemen were held guilty under section 302 (murder) of IPC by special CBI judge JPS Malik. ‘Accused inspector Santosh Kumar Jaiswal, sub-inspectors Gopal Bhatt, Rajesh Bisht, Neeraj Kumar, Nitin Chauhan, Chander Mohan Singh Rawat and Ajit Singh are held guilty and convicted under section 302 (murder) of the IPC read with section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and for substantive offence punishable under section 364 (kidnapping to murder) of IPC read with section 120B of IPC, ‘said the judge.

The remaining policemen, standing in the accused box, in a packed court room, were convicted for conspiring to murder while one constable was also convicted for entering false information into records. Ranbir Singh, a 22-year old student from Ghaziabad, was gunned down by Uttarakhand Police after being caught at Mohini Road where, according to the convicted policemen, he and his companions were trying to commit some crime on 3 July, 2009. The police had said at the time that Ranbir and two of his companions attempted to snatch the service revolver of inspector Bhatt. Though his friends escaped, Ranbir was shot dead in the Ladpur forest area on the outskirts of the city.

However, Ranbir’s father had alleged that his son had gone to Dehradun in search of a job where he was arrested by the police on 3 July, 2009 on pretext of being involved in some robbery. The case was initially handled by the Crime Branch-CID of the state government. But following protests by the victim’s family, the investigation was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). CBI had charge sheeted all the 18 policemen for various offences such as murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and public servant framing incorrect record. The case was also transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court on the plea of Ranbir’s father Ravindra Singh. Some accused were arrested soon after the killing, and remaining had surrendered on 5 June 2012 almost after three years, when court had issued NBWs against them to ensure their presence before it. 

CBI had found in the forensic reports, which claims, no shot had been fired from the pistol the police claimed was found near Ranbir’s body riddled with 22 bullets. The police had alleged Ranbir fired at the cops with the same revolver.