Sandeep Gadoli encounter case: Mumbai court acquits five Haryana police personnel

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on February 7, 2016 in a hotel in Andheri where Gadoli was gunned down by the Haryana police team

A sessions court on Friday acquitted all six accused, including five Haryana police personnel and Sonia Pahuja, mother of model Divya Pahuja in the Haryana-based gangster Sandeep Gadoli encounter case.

It was alleged that Gadoli was unarmed at the time of the incident and was shot dead by the Haryana police team. (Representative file photo)

Virendra Gujjar was also an accused in the case and he was also acquitted by the court today.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on February 7, 2016 in a hotel in Andheri where Gadoli was gunned down by the Haryana police team. The police said a team of five members of the Gurgaon Crime Branch, led by sub-inspector Pradyumn Vedprakash Yadav, acted at the behest of rival gangster Virendrakumar alias Binder Karansingh Gujjar, tracked Gadoli to the hotel and gunned him down in a staged encounter.

Four other policemen named as accused in the case included Vikram Singh Rajbir Singh, Jitendra Jaipal Yadav, Deepak Kumar Vedprakash Kakran, and Paramjeet Bhupsingh Ahlawat.

Apart from them, the special investigation team (SIT) of the Mumbai police, which investigated the alleged fake encounter, had also named Gadoli’s girlfriend, model Divya Pahuja, and her mother Sonia Pahuja, as accused in the case. The mother-daughter duo were accused of helping the Haryana police team in tracking down the slain gangster and thus facilitating the staged encounter.

It was alleged that Gadoli was unarmed at the time of the incident and was shot dead by the Haryana police team, after which the scene was manipulated to suggest an exchange of fire. The prosecution relied on material including call detail records, CCTV footage and ballistic evidence to support its case that the encounter was staged and that evidence was fabricated.

The probe into the alleged fake encounter was undertaken by the SIT following orders passed by the Bombay high court in a petition filed by the Gadoli family members, who claimed that the encounter was fake and Sandeep was killed at the behest of his rival, Gujjar.

The SIT found their claims to be true and concluded that the encounter was a premeditated killing, leading to the registration of offences, charging the Haryana police team and two others of murder and criminal conspiracy.

Divya Pahuja, who was present in the hotel room at the time of the incident, was later shot dead in a separate incident in Gurugram in January 2024, with her sister claiming it to be a revenge killing by Gadoli’s family; proceedings against her in the present case have since abated.