HC acquits 7 terror suspects,says cops framed them

“The encounter,which allegedly occurred on the intervening night of July 1-2,2005,did not take place at all. An absolutely fake encounter has been projected. The story of the encounter was carefully scripted in the office of Special Staff,Delhi Police,Dhaula Kuan,by its main author Sub-Inspector Ravinder Tyagi with the assistance of sub-inspectors Nirakar,Charan Singh and Mahender Singh,” the judge noted in his order.

Coming down heavily on the four police officials involved in the ‘operation’,the court directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to initiate an inquiry against them. “All these four police officers have acted in advancement of their self-interests in total disregard to the demands of their solemn duty. These police officers,whose duty was to protect and safeguard citizens,have turned persecutors and tormentors,” the court noted in its order.

Describing them as “black sheep” that bring disrepute to the police department,the court said there cannot be any crime more serious than an officer of the law framing an innocent citizen in a false criminal case.

“Such tendency in police officers should not be viewed or dealt with lightly. It needs to be curbed with a stern hand. Such black sheep,who are out to defame and bring into disrepute the whole police force,need to be identified from the whole flock and taken to task,” said the court.

In the case,the police had claimed that the accused — Saqib Rehman,Nazir Ahmed Sofi,Gulam Moinuddin Dar and Bashir Ahmed Shah — were arrested following a shoot-out near the Gurgaon-Delhi road on July 1,2005. When the four were reportedly prevented from fleeing,they allegedly opened fire on the police.

The police also claimed that an army combat uniform,fake currency amounting to Rs 50,000 and a sketch of the Palam Air Force station were recovered from their possession. In the chargesheet,police claimed that the accused persons had disclosed their affiliation to the ISI,Pakistan’s spy agency.

It was also alleged that based on their interrogation,the police had arrested three others and recovered a huge amount of fake currency notes,an AK-47 assault rifle,several magazines,cartridges and hand grenades from the accused.