Encounter killings violate rule of law, says plea in SC
The plea was filed by Mumbai-based advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay hours before Dubey himself was killed after he allegedly tried to escape from police custody on Friday morning. The plea raised concerns that Dubey, too, would suffer the same fate.
Killing of accused by police under the garb of encounter is a serious violation of the rule of law and amounts to “Talibanisation of the country”, a plea filed before the Supreme Court said on Friday, while seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the encounter killings of Uttar Pradesh gangster Vikas Dubey’s aides.
The plea was filed by Mumbai-based advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay hours before Dubey himself was killed after he allegedly tried to escape from police custody on Friday morning. The plea raised concerns that Dubey, too, would suffer the same fate.
“...there is every possibility that even accused Vikas Dubey shall be killed by Uttar Pradesh Police like other co-accused once his custody is obtained by Uttar Pradesh Police,” the petition stated.
Besides seeking a CBI probe into the killings of the co-accused, Upadhyay also prayed that adequate security should be provided for Dubey so that he can be dealt with as per law.
Apart from Dubey, five people from his gang been killed in separate encounters in Kanpur, Etawah and Hamirpur.
Upadhyay likened encounter killings to what is depicted in the cop movie “Singham”.
“A new tendency is now gaining ground in the rank and file of police machinery of arresting the accused alleged to be involved in heinous crimes and then killing the accused under the guise of encounter and then becoming movie cop ‘Singham’. (It) needs to be nipped in the bud at the earliest to save the country from becoming Taliban,” the plea said.
Dubey was killed near Kanpur on Friday morning. The gangster was being brought back by the UP Police from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, where he was arrested a day ago. Dubey had been on the run since the killing of eight policemen by his men in Bikru village near Kanpur city on July 3.
“Though it cannot be denied the act of the accused of killing eight policemen is extremely heinous crime, yet the accused were required to be dealt with as per law and upon their guilt being proved after full-fledged trial, they could have been convicted even for death sentence,” Upadhyay’s petition said.
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