Encounter Specialist SI acquitted

Court directs SSP to hold enquiry

22/06/2017

Jammu, Jun 21: An 'encounter specialist' sub-inspector, Shiv Krishan Sharma @ Sonu who was instrumental in killing 68 militants in the Doda-Kishtwar belt, who was arrested by the police or running Militant Group, Principal Sessions Judge Bhaderwah MK Sharma acquitted as 15 important witnesses turned hostile.
While acquitting Shiv Krishan Sharma and seven others, Principal Sessions Judge Bhaderwah MK Sharma observed that Before drawing the curtain in the case, Court cannot help observing that this is a case in which the police cited as many as 93 witnesses to establish various charges against the accused persons and out of 93 witnesses, 15 were examined u/s 164-A Cr.P.C. Surprisingly, majority of the witnesses including some police personnel and respectable people of the locality have turned hostile. They have stated that they were tortured, threatened and detained to make statements against the accused during the course of investigation. Out of the 15 witnesses who were examined u/s 164-A Cr.P.C, nine turned hostile. This is a dangerous trend. It shall not be out of place to mention here that the power of the police to arrest a person or launch prosecution has to be exercised judiciously and not at whims, fancies and arbitrarily as used to be conveyed by the well known saying: "varying according to the Chancellor's foot." The police does not in conducting investigation espose any right of its own but windicates the cause of society at large, to punish offenders, in order to preserve orderliness in society and avert anarchy. The creation of evidence under threat or coercion will have serious fall outs. In view of the afore stated facts, it shall not be proper at this stage to issue notice of perjury to the witnesses who made contradictory statements during the trial. I leave it to the discretion of Dist. Police Chief to first hold a preliminary inquiry and if warranted launch prosecution for perjury.
According to the police case the accused Shiv Kumar is a Sub Inspector in J&K police and was in-charge SOG, Kishtwar whereas accused Mohammad Ayub is also a police personnel and was PSO of Shiv Kumar at the relevant time. It is alleged that in order to earn out of turn promotion as well as monetary benefits and name and fame in public and in departmental hierarchy, the accused Shiv Kumar and his PSO along with accused Arshad Ahmed and Mohd. Arif Naik hatched a criminal conspiracy and chalked out a plan to engage two kashmiri boys, namely, Muzaffar Ahmed son of Khazar Mohammad resident of Tahab Tehsil and District Pulwama and Shahbaz S/o Abdul Hamid Bhat R/O Pathipura, Pulwama as militants with area of operation in Kishtwar and Doda districts with a criminal design to carry out the aforementioned subversive activities in the area. The accused Abdul Rashid who has now become approver was also forcibly made part of this plan, who directed the approver Abdul Rashid to involve some more boys of his area in the said plan in order to achieve their nefarious designs. It is further alleged that Shiv Kumar had planned to later on eliminate both Muzaffar and Shahbaz Ahmed and other accomplices by posing them as terrorists to achieve their nefarious designs. On 14.04.2013, Shiv Kumar called approver Abdul Rashid to Kishtwar and in the morning of 15.04.2013, Shiv Kumar and his PSO gave one bag containing one pistol alongwith magazine and five live cartridges, one AK 56 rifle alongwith 03 magazines and 143 cartridges and 03 Chinese grenades to approver Abdul Rashid and sent him to Kahara. A-3/approver Abdul Rashid gave one pistol alongwith magazine and five cartridges to Mohammad Rafi and one AK-56 rifle alongwith 03 magazines and 143 cartridges to Akhtar Hussain and one Chinese grenade each to Shahbaz and Muzaffer (Kashmiri boys) and deputed them for given assignments. On 20.04.2013, Abdul Rashid alongwith Mohammad Rafi reached Bhaderwah on the direction of Shiv Kumar to eliminate one Bansi Lal Gupta C/o Gupta Bakery, a prominent BJP leader of the area but the duo failed in their design. On 27.04.2013, the Abdul Rashid got one grenade from the Mohammad Yaqoob and gave it to Mohammad Altaf. The accused Mohammad Altaf was directed to throw grenade on the cavalcade of Chief Secretary who was returning from Kishtwar or on the group of people or on PS Thathri. Mohammad Altaf failed to throw grenade on the cavalcade of Chief Secretary and on public but succeeded in throwing it on police station, Thathri in the intervening night of 27/28 April 2013, which did not explode. This incident of grenade throwing on police station Thathri resulted in registration of crime no. 33/2013 in P/S Thathri. During investigation, Mohd. Rafi was arrested, who during interrogation narrated the whole story to the police. During the course of investigation, the aforesaid weapons were recovered from the accused persons. The grenade thrown on police station which was seized, was destroyed on the orders of CJM, Doda. The accused had been using SIM in their respective cell phones for maintaining contacts with each other and to carry out the activities as chalked out, destroyed their respective SIMs and thereby destroyed the evidence. The investigation culminated in filing of this charge sheet against the accused.
Principal Sessions Judge Bhaderwah MK Sharma after gone through the witnesses observed that after having discussed the entire evidence, this Court have no doubt that the same is vitiated by serious errors and it is difficult to sift the grain from the chaff. It is a case full of doubts in which benefit of doubt has to be accorded to the accused. In the result the prosecution have failed to prove the case against the accused beyond doubts. The challan therefore fails and acquitted Shiv Krishan Sharma, Mohammad Ayub, Abdul Rashid, Altaf Hussain, Akhtar Hussain, Mohammad Rafi, Mohammad Yaqoob and Arshad Ahmed. -JNF

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