NHRC asks UP to pay Rs 16 lakh as relief in fake encounter8217;

In response to the Commission8217;s directive, a report from the Suprintendent of Police SP of the region said that four criminals were killed in an encounter between the police and a gang of criminals.

quot;Police had acted on the basis of a secret information that one Dhananjay Singh, a dreaded criminal carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, would commit dacoity at a petrol pump on Bhadoi Mirzapur road. The police posted three teams on the spot and at about 11.30 am found three persons coming towards the petrol pump who on seeing the police fled and under the cover of the bushes started firing at the police.quot;

quot;The police returned fire and after 15 minutes when a search was conducted four persons were found lying dead. One of the dead persons was identified as Dhananjay Singh, the dreaded criminal and the complainant8217;s son was among the other three,quot; the report by the area SP said.

quot;The Commission found the report of the SP unconvincing and directed its own investigation team to look into the incident. The Commission8217;s Director General Investigation, on consideration of the report submitted by the Commission8217;s investigation team opined this to be a case of fake encounter,quot; the NHRC said.

A subsequent report from the SP informed that a magisterial inquiry was being conducted under the orders of the District Magistrate of the area.

He also informed that the matter had also been entrusted to the state Crime Branch, CID and pursuant to investigation of the same, a case has been registered for 36 accused persons including 34 police officials and further investigation of the case was in progress.

quot;Material collected by the CB, CID clearly brought out the fact that the aforesaid encounter was entirely fake and that in fact four innocent persons had been brutally killed by the police after taking them out from a hotel in Bhadoi,quot; NHRC said.

quot;There was involvement of one DSP, one Inspector, seven Sub-Inspectors and a number of police constables. Further, the cases of Arms Act registered against the deceased were found to be false. The state government has proposed to file a final and cancellation report in these cases,quot; the Commission said.

Since the state authorities had already initiated appropriate action, NHRC did not consider it necessary to make any further directions in this behalf, however in the context of providing immediate interim relief8217; to the families of the four victims, it directed UP government to pay Rs 4 lakh each.