Meerut: A case has been registered against 12 police personnel for the death of a 45-year-old man, suspected to be a cattle smuggler, in an alleged fake encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district in September 2021, police said on Monday, adding that the action came on the orders of the chief judicial magistrate.
The Uttar Pradesh police have claimed that on September 5, 2021, an encounter took place between a police team and alleged cattle smugglers in Thithki village under the Deoband police station area, in which a “cattle smuggler”, identified as Zeeshan Haider (45), was seriously injured in the firing and died during treatment at the Saharanpur district hospital.
However, Haider’s wife Afroz filed an application in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM), alleging that on the day of the incident she was at home with her husband when police called him in the name of an inquiry. It was later reported that Haider suffered a bullet injury in his foot and when the family reached the hospital he had died.
Accusing the police of killing her husband, Afroz demanded an inquiry in the matter and also made a complaint to the chief minister’s portal.
“A case has been registered against 12 cops on January 22 (Sunday) in Deoband police station on the orders of chief judicial magistrate Anil Kumar,” said Saharanpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vipin Tada. “They include three sub-inspectors, two head constables and seven constables.”
The accused police officers have been identified as against sub-inspectors Omveer Singh, Yashpal Singh and Asgar Ali, head constables Sukhpal and Kunwar Bharat, and constables Pramod Kumar, Vipin Kumar, Rajbeer, Devendra, Neeta Yadav, Brajesh Kumar and Ankit Kumar, all attached to the Deoband police station, the officer said.
They have been booked under sections 147 (for rioting), 148 (for rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (for offence committed in prosecution of common object), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving information to screen offender), 307 (for attempt to murder), 302 (for murder), 342 (for wrongful confinement) and 120B (for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the officer added.
Afroz’s complaint remained pending in the court for almost a year after which she approached the Allahabad high court, which directed the CJM Saharanpur to examine the case, said Janisar Ahmed, Afroz’s advocate.
After hearing pleas of both sides, the CJM court passed the order to register a case against the “errant” police officers on January 19.
“The incident was shocking, it ruined the entire family, including their three children,” said Janisar Ahmad, Afroz’s advocate.
According to the petition filed by Afroz, her husband Zeeshan Haider had no case lodged against him. He had received a phone call at midnight of September 4, 2021 from the police, calling him for some inquiry. The next morning, two policemen informed the family that Haider had received a bullet injury on his thigh and was admitted to Deoband hospital. When the family visited the hospital, they were informed that he has been shifted to Saharanpur district hospital, where he succumbed to his injury.
Police, however, maintained that a police team had surrounded a group of alleged cattle smugglers, including Haider, in the forested area of Thithki village. One criminal allegedly opened fire, which pierced through Haider’s thigh leading to his death due to excessive bleeding, police have said.
The police also registered a case against Haider and five others under sections 147,148,149, 307 and 302 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act.
