A Delhi court has held five Uttar Pradesh police personnel and a property dealer guilty of torturing a broker’s friend to death at Noida’s Sector 20 police station in 2006.
The accused police personnel, in connivance with the property dealer, had arrested the victim at his house on the charge of robbery on a complaint.
Plaint by victim’s father
The police had lodged a case in the matter on a complaint by the victim’s father. The case was earlier tried by a Gautam Budh Nagar court. The Supreme Court later transferred it to the Delhi court stating that “free and fair trial of the case will not be possible within the State [Uttar Pradesh], more so because the accused are members of the police force.”
Holding the accused guilty of kidnapping and beating the victim to death with the knowledge that it would lead to his death, Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra said, “It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused sub-inspectors Hindveer Singh, Mahesh Mishra, constables Pradeep Kumar, Pushpender and Haripal Singh, in connivance with accused Kunwar Pal Singh, and in furtherance of their common intention, abducted Sonu alias Somveer from his native village Hazrat Pur and maliciously confined him till he was declared dead knowingly that by confining Sonu illegally they were acting contrary to law as they were apprehending Sonu for involvement in case crime no. 320/06, PS Sector-39, Noida without any evidence or reasonable suspicion against him.”
“Not only this, they tortured Sonu while he was in their custody knowingly that by such beatings/torture they are likely to cause death of Sonu,” the judge said.
