A Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ghaziabad has convicted nine police officials in a fake shootout case dating back to 2006, ANI reported on Wednesday.
The case pertains to the killing of a carpenter named Rajaram in the Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. The prosecution alleged that he was killed for demanding wages for work that he carried out in the kitchen of one of the accused persons, according to The New Indian Express.
The convicted police personnel had falsely accused him of dacoity and killed him in a fake police shootout on August 18, 2006. The personnel were posted at the Sidhpura police station in Etah. One of them, Pawan Singh, was the station house officer at the time.
Special CBI Judge Parvendra Kumar Sharma convicted the nine police personnel on Tuesday, and pronounced the quantum of punishment on Wednesday.
Five convicts – Pawan Singh, Pal Singh Thenwa, Rajendra Prasad, Sarnam Singh and Mohkam Singh – have been held guilty of murder. They have been sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay fines of Rs 30,000 each.
Four others – Baldev Prasad, Sumer Singh, Ajay Kumar and Awadhesh Rawat – have been held guilty of destruction of evidence. The court sentenced them to five years’ imprisonment and fines of Rs 11,000 each.
After the killing of Rajaram, his wife Santosh Kumari had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court and sought an inquiry into the matter. The court ordered a CBI inquiry on June 1, 2007.
The agency filed a chargesheet in court in 2009.
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