Last Updated on 26/07/2024 by wccexam Desk
As long as he was alive, he remained a mystery for the police of five states for two whole years. When he died, the police had to wait for 20 days for his last rites. And now when the CBI filed a closure report on his encounter case after his death, this closure report once again became a noose around the neck of the police. The court has ordered to initiate a murder case against all the policemen involved in the encounter of Rajasthan’s notorious gangster Anandpal.
Murder case against seven policemen
That means Anand Pal, who is dead or alive, is not leaving Rajasthan police alone. Rejecting the CBI’s closure report, Jodhpur CBI court has now ordered to register a murder case against the seven policemen who had killed Anand Pal in an encounter and who were once awarded medals after Anand Pal’s encounter.
Who was Anandpal?
But then the question is that the CBI, which found Anandpal’s encounter to be correct in its investigation, how did that investigation prove to be false or in other words, wrong in the court? What happened that the court rejected the close report and ordered to file a case against the policemen? So to understand this story, you have to know what arguments did Anandpal’s family present in the court against this encounter, in front of which the entire investigation report of CBI proved to be baseless? But before I tell you all these things in a systematic manner, let us quickly know who Anandpal was? And how did his encounter happen, which came under the circle of questions.
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Anand Pal was killed on 24 June 2017
Anandpal Singh, a gangster from Nagaur district of Rajasthan, was known for his terrifying style. He had many serious charges against him including more than 7 murders and once he was arrested, he dodged the police and fled in such a way that he was never caught again. Not only Rajasthan, but Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh chased Anandpal for two years. And finally, Rajasthan Police’s SOG and Churu Police killed Anandpal in an encounter on 24 June 2017.
The story of the encounter, as told by the police
Police said that while chasing Anandpal, they got information about his two brothers Vicky alias Rupesh and Devendra alias Gattu, who were arrested by the police. After that, as per their information, Anandpal’s location was found, which was Malasar village of Churu district. Here Anandpal was hiding on the roof of a house. Police surrounded the entire house and after this Anandpal was asked to surrender. They were also told that his brother is with the police, so he should surrender. But according to the police, Anandpal started firing on the policemen from the roof with a dangerous weapon like AK-47. And when the police retaliated, Anandpal was killed by police bullets.
Demonstration with the corpse for 20 days
But since according to Anandpal’s family and his loved ones, this police encounter was fake, they refused to cremate Anandpal’s body until action was taken against the guilty policemen in this case. Then for about 20 days people kept protesting with Anandpal’s body. And finally the then Rajasthan government handed over the investigation of this case to the CBI. The CBI investigated the case and found the police’s statements about the encounter to be true and after its investigation filed a closure report in this case in the year 2020.
The family challenged the closure report
But Anandpal’s family challenged this closure report. The hearing continued in the ACJM court till 4th and finally after hearing both the sides, the court rejected the closure report and issued an order to prosecute the 7 policemen who carried out the encounter under several sections including murder. Because the court found that Anandpal’s encounter was not genuine but fake and the police killed him by shooting him several times from close range after capturing him alive.
But now the question is what argument did the defence present which ripped apart the closure report. So let us now try to understand those arguments point by point.
Argument No. 1 – Glock pistol exposed the lie
Police said that Anandpal was firing from the roof with AK-47. In such a situation, it was difficult to go to the roof amidst the shower of bullets. Somehow, the police took Anandpal to the stairs of the house along with his brother, but Anandpal kept firing from above and finally the police also retaliated and then Anandpal stumbled and fell on the stairs with his AK-47. That is, during the encounter, the police did not go to the roof. But investigation revealed that Anandpal was also shot with CO Vidya Prakash’s Glock pistol. And the shell of that Glock pistol was found on the roof of the house. The question is that if the bullet was fired from below, then how was the pistol shell found on the roof? Forensic experts have also stated in their report on this matter that the shell of the Glock pistol falls from where the firing is done. That is, the police lied about the firing.
Argument No.2 – There were marks of gunshot wounds from close range on the corpse
After the so-called encounter, Anandpal’s body was post-mortemed twice. In the second post-mortem report, forensic experts found that there were tattooing marks near seven bullet wounds. Such marks are formed only when a bullet is fired from close range. These marks on Anandpal’s body also expose the claims of the police, because the police had said that he was on the roof and the police were firing from below.
Argument No. 3 – Constable’s misrepresentation exposed the matter
In the CBI investigation, the police told that constable Sohan Singh was at the top of the stairs during the encounter, while Anandpal was firing bursts from his AK-47 rifle from above. In return, he also fired a bullet from his AK-47 which hit Anandpal. However, Sohan Singh was also shot in this encounter and after about 9 months, Sohan Singh changed his statement and said that the bullet that hit him was fired from Anandpal’s AK-47, which hit the wall and hit his back. But the court found that this was practically impossible at the scene of the incident. This point also went against the police and the CBI.
Argument No.4 – How were the shells of government weapons found on the roof?
At the place where Anandpal was hiding on the roof, not only were the bullet shells from the CO’s Glock pistol found, but also the bullet shells from the rifles and pistols of other policemen were present. Now according to the story, when Anandpal was shot on the stairs and he fell there, then how did the shells of government weapons come on the roof? This argument also brought the close report under suspicion.
Argument No. 5 – Anandpal’s brother exposed the encounter
The police had taken Anandpal’s brother Rupendrapal with them to the spot. And had told Anandpal that his brother was with them, so he should surrender. Rupendrapal himself asked Anandpal to surrender on the police’s request. But despite surrendering, the police threw Anandpal down on the ground and shot him several times from close range. Rupendrapal said the same thing in his testimony, which put a big question mark on the police’s encounter theory.
Case filed against policemen under serious sections including murder
Obviously, these were some of the points that shattered the police encounter theory and the court ordered to file a case against seven policemen, including the then Churu SP Rahul Barath, the then Kuchaman City CO Vidya Prakash and the then SOG CI Suryaveer Singh. The court has ordered to file a case against the accused policemen under IPC section 302, i.e. murder, as well as sections 324, 325 and 326, i.e. causing dangerous injuries with weapons, 149, i.e. committing a crime collectively and 147 and 148, i.e. rioting.
Anandpal’s wife had challenged it in the court
Anandpal’s wife Raj Kanwar had challenged the CBI’s closure report in court. In which, apart from Raj Kanwar herself, Anandpal’s brother Manjeet Kanwar and the two doctors who conducted the post-mortem of Anandpal’s body testified and these testimonies raised questions on the closure report. Now, on the court’s order, it has been decided to file a case against the accused policemen, but when the CBI, the agency investigating the police encounter, has declared the encounter to be correct, then the question arises that what will happen to the case going on in the court against the policemen in this case? Will only Anandpal’s family members present their case as the prosecution in the court? And will the crime of the policemen be proved in the court?
Anandpal had a hold in the Rajput society
Anandpal was a gangster. He was accused of several serious crimes including murder. But the truth is that a large section of the society looked upon Anandpal as a Robin Hood. That is, one who robs from the rich and fills the pockets of the poor. He had a good hold especially among the youth of the Rajput community. This is the reason that when Anandpal was killed in an encounter on 24 July 2017, people came out on the streets against it and made life difficult for the administration for 20 days.
Police spent 9 crores in search of gangster
Anandpal was caught by the police only once in his criminal life and after that he absconded in such a way that the police could not find him. The police chased him for about two years and raided at least three hundred places. A team of at least 50 jawans including SP level officers went in search of him. And lakhs of rupees were spent every time. According to police sources, according to an estimate, before the encounter, the police had spent about 9 crore rupees in search of Anandpal.
Politics and liquor smuggling made him a criminal
Anandpal had enmity with another gangster named Raju Tehat. Anandpal’s associates attacked Raju Tehat in jail in 2014. After which Raju Tehat also attacked Anandpal. Later on 3 December 2022, Raju Tehat was murdered in Sikar. The blame was put on Anandpal. Actually, Anandpal was different from other gangsters in many ways. Despite being a law graduate and B.Ed, he not only chose the path of crime, but also created his sophisticated image by speaking fluent English. Anandpal, a resident of Sanwarad village of Nagaur, once wanted to become a teacher. But politics and liquor smuggling brought him on the path of crime.
Caste equation made it popular
But as soon as he entered the world of crime along with smuggling, he balanced the caste equations in such a way that people of the society started liking him. Slowly he committed many murders one after the other. In some cases, he even burnt the dead body with acid. Due to which his name became a fear. There was a time when his name was famous in Rajasthan. But now all this is a thing of the past.
(Inputs from Hanif Khan from Nagaur and Dr. Ashok Sharma from Jodhpur)