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12 policemen booked over man’s death in ‘encounter’ in UP’s Saharanpur
Nearly one-and-a-half years after the death of a man in an alleged fake encounter with police in Thithki village of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, a case has been registered against 12 cops on the orders of the CJM court, Saharanpur, police said on Monday
Nearly one-and-a-half years after the death of a man in an alleged fake encounter with police in Thithki village of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, a case has been registered against 12 cops on the orders of the CJM court, Saharanpur, police said on Monday.
As per the police’s claim, on September 5, 2021, an encounter took place between a police team and alleged cattle smugglers in Thithki village under Deoband police station area.
A ‘cattle smuggler’ identified as Zeeshan Haider, 45, was seriously injured in police firing and he died in the Saharanpur district hospital later. However, Zeeshan’s wife Afroz Alam and other family members accused the cops of killing Zeeshan and demanded an inquiry into the matter.
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Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Saharanpur, Vipin Tada confirmed that a case had been registered against 12 cops on January 22 (Sunday) in Deoband police station on the orders of chief judicial magistrate Anil Kumar. They included 3 sub-inspectors, 2 head constables and 7 constables, he added.
The case has been registered under sections 147 (for rioting), 148 (for rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (for offence committed in prosecution of common object), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving information to screen offender), 307 (for attempt to murder), 302 (for murder), 342 (for wrongful confinement) and 120B (for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against S-Is Omveer Singh, Yashpal Singh, Asgar Ali, head constables Sukhpal and Kunwar Bharat besides constables Pramod Kumar, Vipin Kumar, Rajbeer, Devendra, Neeta Yadav, Brajesh Kumar and Ankit Kumar of Deoband police station.
Earlier, seeking justice, Afroz moved the Allahabad high court and after hearing her plea, the court directed the CJM Saharanpur to examine the case. After hearing pleas of both sides, the CJM court passed the order to register a case against the ‘errant’ cops on January 19.
Lawyer Janisar Ahmad, who pursued the case on behalf of Afroz, said, “It was indeed shocking which ruined the entire family having three children.” Zeeshan’s cousin Isha Raza, who has been pursuing the case along with Afroz, said the family had still not come out of the shock even 17 months after the unfortunate incident.
As per the petition filed by Afroz, her husband Jeeshan, a resident of Thithri village, was a farmer owning 40 bigha land and had two arms weapons. He had no case lodged against him. He received a telephone call at midnight of September 4, 2021. He went down and informed Afroz that he will come back soon as cops had come to take him for some inquiry. Afroz, who was down with fever, telephoned her husband after half-an-hour but his phone was switched off.
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The next morning two cops arrived at the house of Ishan Raza in Deoband and said that Zeeshan had received a bullet injury on his thigh and was admitted to the government hospital of Deoband. Ishan and other relatives visited the hospital where they were told that Zeeshan had been shifted to Saharanpur district hospital. When they reached there, they found that Zeeshan’s body had been kept in the mortuary.
As per the police version, Zeeshan suffered a bullet injury while police surrounded some cow slaughters in the jungle of Thithki village. One criminal allegedly opened fire which pierced through Zeeshan’s thigh and he died due to excessive bleeding.
The police then registered a case against deceased Zeeshan, Aseel, Matloob, Javed and two more under sections 147,148,149,307,302 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act. Ishan alleged that police killed Zeeshan in a fake encounter and registered four cases against him on the day of his killing in order to declare him a criminal.
