Two Haryana policemen get life sentence for fake encounter

Two Haryana policemen have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court for killing two criminals in a fake encounter in 1994 even as it acquitted the then DGP of the state.
The then Inspector Nar Singh and Constable Ramesh Chander were sentenced yesterday for their involvement in the Jitender Pahal encounter case and slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 each.
The then Director General of Haryana Police Lachman Dass and two other policemen have been acquitted.
The case relates to Pahal and Randhir Singh, both known criminals, who were killed while being taken from Jind to Sonepat in police custody on October 25, 1994.

On the petition of Pahal's mother, Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed CBI to take over probe in the matter as the petitioner had alleged the role of Haryana Police officials in the killing of the two.
During the probe, CBI found that Pahal and Singh were were lodged in the prisons while Lachman Dass was serving as DG Prisons in the state. In 1991, a friend of Dass' son Bunty Budh Ram was involved in a clash with Pahal.

In November 1991, Bunty visited Ambala prison where Pahal was lodged and both threatened each other with dire consequences.

"The CBI investigation disclosed that during the period from August 24, 1994 to April 30, 1995, Dass while posted as DGP Haryana entered into a criminal conspiracy with Ved Prakash Verma, Nar Singh, Ramesh Chander, Sube Singh and Mangat Singh Gill and in pursuance of the said criminal conspiracy eliminated both Jitender Pahal and Randhir Singh," CBI had alleged in its charge sheet.
The agency charged Dass along with others with murder and furnishing false evidence.
Gill died during the trial.