Wanted man roams free in UP,as his namesake languishes in jail

All these years,the mans 32-year-old semi-literate wife Suneeta has been working as a daily wage labourer to support their four children,the eldest of whom is a 12-year-old girl.

Suneetas tragedy and the farce of law enforcement began in August 2004,when a Haryana police party came to her Dilalpur village in Aligarh district looking for Sheoraj,son of Thakur Das,who was wanted in a criminal case. But they took away her husband Sheoraj,son of Atar Singh.

Suneeta complained to several officials,no one listened. She then wrote to the chief minister and the State Human Rights Commission. In 2008,the government ordered an inquiry.

The report of this inquiry was sent to the Home Department in April last year. I mentioned in my report that the allegations made by Suneeta seem true, said Dy SP Akhilesh Bhadoria,who carried out the inquiry.

But when The Indian Express asked Home Secretary Anand Kumar about the report,he said,I dont know about the inquiry. I have to look into the details.

The details are as follows.

Some time in 2004,the Haryana police arrested Devendra Nath Sharma,a resident of Chharra,which is about 7 km from Dilalpur,for allegedly running a carjacking ring.

During questioning,Sharma named as his accomplices Raju,Udaiveer and Sheoraj,son of Thakur Das alias Sattu,all from Dilalpur. Thakur Das owned a brick kiln,where the other Sheoraj,Suneetas husband,worked.

In August that year,the police came to Dilalpur,looking for Sheoraj,son of Thakur Das. According to Suneeta,Thakur Dass other son,Gyan Singh,came to her house and asked to send her husband,Sheoraj,to the kiln.

When my husband did not return after several hours,I went to check at the police station. They told me that Haryana police had arrested him, Suneeta said.

She later got to know that the Haryana police had framed her husband,allegedly under the influence of the local police and Thakur Dass son. They arrested my husband and showed him as son of Thakur Das alias Atar Singh, said Suneeta.

Circle Officer Kumar Ran Vijay Singh started the inquiry and,on his transfer,handed it over to his successor Akhilesh Bhadoria.

Ran Vijay Singh,who is now posted in Jaunpur,said,We began the inquiry by recording statements of villagers. I also sent a team to Haryana to record the statement of other accused,including Devendra Nath Sharma,who were in the jail. They admitted that the Sheoraj who was lodged with them in the jail was not the man who was associated with them in the crime.

Sheoraj was convicted by the Faridabad sessions court in 2008,and sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and murder,said advocate Mukesh Duggar,who appeared for him in court. Two similar cases against Sheoraj were in the final stages in a Palwal court,Duggar added.

There were eight accused. Four,including Sheoraj and Devendra Nath,were convicted. Others were acquitted for lack of evidence, Duggar said.

Advocate R K Sharma,who is now fighting Sheorajs case,said he had filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He had also written to the National Human Rights Commission and the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the identity of Sheoraj,Sharma said.

While the innocent Sheoraj is in jail,the man who was actually wanted roams free.

Lekhri Ram Singh,who was Station Officer of Barla until he was transferred last week,said,Thakur Dass son Sheoraj still lives in Dilalpur village.

Suneeta said that since the police submitted its report,Sheoraj had been harassing her to withdraw her complaint.

No one cares for the poor, she said. It has been proved that the Haryana police framed my husband,but he is still in jail, she said.