Hashimpura massacre: Delhi HC issues notice to 16 UP policemen

The Delhi High Court has issued notices to 16 Uttar Pradesh policemen who were acquitted of murder charges by a trial court in March in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case.

The notices were issued on the Uttar Pradesh governments plea against the trial court verdict. The policemen have been directed to file their reply on July 21, say reports.

The police personnel were acquitted by the trial court, which said the prosecution had not been able to establish the identity of the suspected policemen. The rehabilitation of victims in the case was referred to legal services authority.

In 1987, over 40 Muslim men were killed during riots in Meerut after they were picked up from the Hashimpura locality of the city, allegedly by personnel of the 41st company of the PAC during a search operation.

The chargesheet in the case was filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Ghaziabad in 1996.

The case was transferred to New Delhi in September 2002 on the order of the Supreme Court, following a petition by the families of the massacre victims and survivors.

The police allegedly had taken the Muslim men in truck to the outskirts in Ghaziabad, where they were shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals. A few days later dead bodies were found floating in the canals.