District and session judge HS Thakur awarded life imprisonment to Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) inspector Nar Singh and head constable Ramesh Kumar, after holding them guilty, in the infamous Pehal fake encounter case here on Thursday.
The other accused - director general of police (DGP) Lachman Dass, then senior policemen (SP), vigilance, Gurgaon, Ved Parkash Verma, and head constable Sube Singh were acquitted.
The sixth accused, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Mangat Singh Gill, had died during the trial. The verdict came after 18 years of trial in which the Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) examined 95 witnesses, while the defense produced 70.
According to sources, criminals Jitender Pehal and Randhir Singh were killed on October 25, 1994, when they were trying to escape from police custody near Butana canal, near Ishapur Kheri village, Sonipat, during the intervening night of October 24-25.
Pehal's mother Ishwarti Devi had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court demanding a CBI enquiry, and had alleged that her son was killed in a fake encounter.
The DGP and others were booked under sections 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record), 193 (false evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and the charges were framed on October 17, 1997, said sources.
{{/usCountry}}The DGP and others were booked under sections 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record), 193 (false evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and the charges were framed on October 17, 1997, said sources.
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