41 yrs later, ex-DGP found guilty of assaulting Congress leader
A Gujarat court sentenced former DGP Kuldeep Sharma and ex-inspector Girish Vasavada to three months in jail for wrongful confinement of a Congress leader in 1984.
A sessions court in Gujarat on Monday sentenced state’s former director general of police (DGP) Kuldeep Sharma to three-month imprisonment after convicting him for wrongfully confining a Congress leader nearly 41 years ago when he was the superintendent of police (SP) of Kutch district.
The Bhuj court of additional chief judicial magistrate BM Prajapati also convicted and handed a three-month jail term to former police inspector Girish Vasavada in the case.
“Both Sharma and Vasavada were convicted today under IPC (Indian Penal Code) Section 342 (wrongful confinement). The court sentenced them to three months of imprisonment and a fine of ₹1,000 each,” lawyer RS Gadhvi, who represented the complainant, said.
The case dates back to 1984, when Congress leader Ibrahim Mandhara, popularly known as Ibhala Seth, (now deceased) was assaulted by Sharma and a few other police officers at the SP’s office.
According to the complaint filed by one Shankar Joshi, a delegation from Naliya town in Kutch comprising the complainant, Ibrahim, and local MLAs, had gone to meet Sharma at the SP office in Bhuj on May 6, 1984 to discuss a case registered in the town.
“They met (then) SP Kuldeep Sharma over a police operation in Naliya, urging him to target criminals, not innocent people,” Gadhavi said.
After a heated argument, Sharma took Ibrahim to another room and with his fellow officers, assaulted him.
In the complaint filed in the Bhuj court, Joshi sought action against the 1976-batch IPS officer Sharma, Vasavada, and two other accused (who are now deceased) under sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Iqbal Mandhara, the son of Ibrahim, who died in 2020, distributed sweets outside the Bhuj court after the verdict. “Justice delayed is justice denied, but after 40 years, the truth has prevailed. My father fought tirelessly for justice, and today’s verdict ensures accountability for those responsible,” he told reporters.
