HC issues fresh NBW against 'dead' murder accused

The Delhi High Court today issued fresh non-bailable warrant against a murder accused who had jumped bail and allegedly connived with his family members to show an unidentified body as his own to get him declared dead by Uttar Pradesh Police.
A special bench of justices Kailash Gambhir and Sunita Gupta also directed the Senior Superintendent of Police of Ghaziabad to probe whether any senior officers of UP Police were involved in the process of carrying out fingerprint identification of the unidentified body which was believed to be that of accused Rajbir.
It also directed the SSP to find details of Manoj Kumar, who had informed the accused's family that an unidentified and decomposed body found by the police was that of Rajbir.

The court passed the directions after Public Prosecutor Sunil Sharma, appearing for Delhi Police, submitted that mere constables cannot carry out the fingerprinting process as claimed by UP Police and some senior officials must also be involved in it.
Sharma also questioned as to who how Kumar came to know that the unidentified and decomposed body was that of Rajbir.
He made the submissions after perusing UP Police's status report saying that the accused's family in its statement to the police had said that they were searching for him and were informed, over the phone, by Kumar that Rajbir's body has been found in a decomposed state.

The court was hearing the appeal of Rajbir against his conviction by a trial court here in a murder case.

During pendency of his appeal in court, he had obtained bail and then went missing.
Despite repeated summons, when the court had failed to get his presence in the appeal case, it had decided to direct the police in Ghaziabad to trace him since he belongs to that district.
Later information, through UP Police, was received by the court that the accused is dead.