47 cops awarded life term for killing 10 Sikhs in Pilibhit fake encounter
Lucknow:A CBI
court yesterday convicted 47 policemen in the 1991 Pilibhit fake encounter in
which Sikh pilgrims when they were returning by bus
after visiting Nanakmatha, Patna Sahib, Huzur Sahib and other holy places, the 10 passengers were
forced to step down from the luxury bus at 11 am; were taken away from the
spot; gunned down on 12, 13 July 1991 mid night.
A charge-sheet said they were divided into
groups, taken to different areas in a jungle and killed in cold blood.
The policemen claimed next day that 10
Khalistani terrorists had been killed. They claimed that some of the Sikhs in
the bus had criminal cases and were armed.
The CBI investigated the case on the orders of
the Supreme Court and said that the motive behind the killings was to earn
awards and recognition for
killing "terrorists".
Terming the encounter fake, CBI Special Judge Lallu Singh held the 47 policemen guilty. The court sentenced life term imprisonment.
Terming the encounter fake, CBI Special Judge Lallu Singh held the 47 policemen guilty. The court sentenced life term imprisonment.

The
original charge sheet had held 57 policemen guilty. However, 10 of them died
during the 25-year-long trial. In his order, the CBI special judge recounted
the sequence of events. The incident took place on July 12, 1991, when the Uttar
Pradesh police stopped a luxury bus in which a group of Sikh pilgrims were
travelling.
The
bus was stopped near Kachla Bridge in Badaun district where the police
reportedly offloaded 10 pilgrims. They were made to board a mini bus. Later,
the pilgrims were divided into three groups — two of four each and one of the
remaining two. Separate police teams then took them to the jurisdiction of
different police stations where they were killed in cold blood.
The coveted for awards for killing so-called
dreaded terrorists was reportedly the motive behind the killings. Some of the
Sikh youth had terror-related cases pending against them which the police had
come to know. Following media reports questioning the police version of the
encounter, Supreme Court advocate RS Sodhi had filed a PIL in the apex court
seeking a CBI probe, which was ordered.
The charge sheet filed four years after the
incident on June 12, 1995, had indicted 57 policemen under various sections of
the IPC, including 302, for the fake encounter.
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