'If you question the police you become an anti-national and that is ridiculous.' 'Either you say we live by the Constitution or you say the State will not follow the Constitution.'
The court awarded life imprisonment to Singh on Friday and also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on him, government counsel Ashutosh Dubey said.
Two persons, including a police constable, have been arrested in connection with the killing of a Muslim cleric in an alleged fake encounter by special operations group in Baramulla district last year.
The party fielded senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu to handle the controversy.
Police personnel involved in fake encounter killings should be awarded death sentence and hanged, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and C K Prasad said that police personnel as custodians of law are expected to protect people and not eliminate them as contract killers.
'Look at the post mortem reports. Every body (of the 10 Kuki-Zo youth who were killed) has almost 12 bullet marks on it.' 'Why do they have to fire so much even if they wanted to kill them?' 'One or two shots would be enough to kill them. Why then they had to fire so many bullets on them?'
At present, 22 accused, mostly police personnel from Gujarat and Rajasthan, are facing trial in the case.
Sources said the CBI had access to phone records showing a number of calls made by Shah to Vanzara and Pandian during the time of the encounter on November 26, 2005, and after Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin filed a petition in September 2006 on the disappearance of Kauser Bi.
On July 30, the CBI informed the apex court that its had filed two chargesheets before the competent court in connection with the cases.
Former Union Minister Sharad Pawar has refuted claims made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the BJP's victory in the Maharashtra assembly polls ended the politics of betrayal and treachery started by Pawar in 1978. Pawar stated that he was the Chief Minister in 1978 and was unaware of Shah's whereabouts at the time. He also criticized the lack of communication between current political leaders and called for a return to respectful dialogue. He also highlighted Shah's past legal issues, including being externed from Gujarat. In response to speculation about the future of the MVA coalition, Pawar said discussions will take place within the next 10 days to address key issues. An editorial in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also criticized Shah's remarks, calling them 'arrogant' and questioning the BJP's actions in relation to Pawar and Balasaheb Thackeray.
Now, a panch witness, Manoj Panara,turned hostile in the case.
'I have received Rs 5 lakh from the Jammu and Kashmir administration. Is that the price of my innocent son and others killed in cold blood'
Even as Central Bureau of Investigation probes the Ishrat Jahan and Sadiq Jamal alleged fake encounter cases, at least 555 such alleged extra judicial killings have been reported in the country, including 138 in Uttar Pradesh, in the last four years.
Jammu and Kashmir police Thursday presented another chargesheet against the accused in the notorious fake encounters case in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Srinagar.
"Against 426 cases of alleged fake encounters, 84 cases have been solved and the remaining 342 are unsolved," Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh said in the Lok Sabha.
Members from Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), Congress, RJD and BSP termed as serious the killing of one Sohrabuddin allegedly in a fake encounter in the state.
The Gujarat CID, the agency probing the case, also filed an application seeking the court's nod to conduct narco-analysis tests on the officers.
Khan, alleged to be a JeM militant who had gone to Pakistan for training, was killed in a police encounter in 2002. Human rights activists have alleged he was killed in a false encounter and not while fleeing from the police.
Police are examining the past records of the arrested men in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and a related case of extortion to decide if the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) should be invoked, sources said on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had requested senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to appear as a special prosecutor in the murder case. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) has sought old case papers and chargesheets against the arrested men. Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company. Beed Police has put up posters seeking information about whereabouts of three wanted accused in the murder case. CM Fadnavis said he spoke to BJP MLA from Beed, Suresh Dhas who demanded that Nikam be appointed as special public prosecutor in the case. Nikam was a special public prosecutor in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 terror attacks and 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that "smaller fish" could be killed in fake encounters to save the "big fish" involved in the Deshmukh murder and extortion cases. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council Ambadas Danve said the trial in the case should be conducted outside Beed district. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who has come under fire after the alleged involvement of his aide Karad in the extortion matter came to light, said those who murdered Santosh Deshmukh should be tried in a fast-track court and "hanged till death." The government on Wednesday set up a 10-member SIT to probe the case, headed by Deputy Inspector General -CID Basavraj Teli.
Major Surinder Singh was held guilty of all charges and sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
The Rajasthan high court on Friday asked former Bharatiya Janata Party Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore to surrender before a trial court in Dara Singh fake encounter case, setting aside the lower court's order which had discharged him in the case.
According to officials in the know of the development, the findings of a Court of Inquiry and his conviction and sentencing were confirmed by the higher Army authorities on November 11 as required under the law.
The Manipur government has initiated to sign a memorandum of understanding with Apunba Lup, a banner organisation of 20 groups that led protests against the alleged fake encounters on July 23, last year, to end the agitation in the state.
This is the second time that Geeta Johri visited Andhra Pradesh for this case.
The Gujarat government had carried out fake encounters only to raise Chief Minister Narendra Modi's profile so that he becomes a "hero" in the eyes of people who believe acts of terror are done by Muslims, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has alleged.
A senior police officer said that DNA mapping would take 35 to 45 days.
Geeta Johri, the investigating officer in the case, is likely to visit the CRPF Mess in Chandrayangutta.
The bench also asked the DIG to file a status report of the progress made in the investigation in these cases.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) faction (anti-talks) led by fugitive commander in chief Paresh Barua on Monday accused that Assam police of shooting down an innocent youth and injuring four others in a 'fake encounter against ULFA ultras' in Tinsukia district of Assam on Sunday.
The CID has so far arrested six policemen in the fake encounter case, including the three IPS officers D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh M N. The three IPS officials were arrested on April 24.
The CID has detained certain policemen of the ranks of Inspector, Sub-inspector and Constable, who were members of the team that tracked Sohrabuddin all the way from Hyderabad and then were part of the encounter near Ahmedabad.
Curfew was relaxed in three Imphal Valley districts on Tuesday and the suspension on broadband internet lifted with conditions, even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh blamed the Congress for the present crisis in Manipur and NDA MLAs called for a "mass operation" against militants responsible for the killing of six women and children. Peaceful rallies were also staged across the state, with hundreds taking to the streets with empty coffins in Churachandpur district, demanding justice for those killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam, and members of various civil society organisations bringing out a procession in Imphal West district to protest the reimposition of AFSPA in parts of the state.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday said it has gunned down a second accused in the Sultanpur jewellery store robbery case in a pre-dawn encounter in Unnao district. "Akhilesh Yadav's wish has been fulfilled, a Thakur has been encountered," said the father of Anuj Pratap Singh.
The Rajasthan government has suspended Additional Superintendent of Police Arshad Ali, who was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged involvement in the Dara Singh fake encounter case. His suspension order was issued on Monday, according to sources.Ajay Kumar Jain, another senior police officer who was suspended by the government, is absconding.The CBI had summoned both the officers in May for interrogation.
The Kuki-Zo Council called for a 13-hour shutdown in Manipur's hill areas on Tuesday, demanding an investigation into the death of 11 people in a clash with security forces in Jiribam. The shutdown, which began at 5 am, saw schools, markets, and public transport remain closed. Various Kuki-Zo organizations, including the Kuki Students' Organisation, the Zomi Students' Federation, and the Hmar Students' Association, demanded a probe into the incident, accusing the Central Reserve Police Force of "treacherous murder." The Hmar Village Volunteers, who were identified by the Kuki-Zo groups as the victims, condemned the incident and called for intervention from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Patel also said he would support the communities which have raised reservation demands in Rajasthan.
Sonowal said the judgement is a reflection of India's democratic values where human rights and fairness are respected.
Shaikh, a suspected gangster, was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat Police in November 2005. His wife Kausar Bi was also allegedly killed.
The police fired in the air and lobbed tear gas shells after protests erupted in Srinagar on Saturday during the funeral of the three men allegedly killed in a fake encounter in April. Slogan-shouting mourners marched with the three men's bodies, which were exhumed on Friday and buried in the ancestral graveyard in Nadihal-Panzallah in Baramulla. The police fired in the air and lobbed teargas shells as protestors clashed with security personnel, officials said.
'The Ishrat encounter was neither genuine, nor fake. I believe it was a 'controlled killing,' says Shekhar Gupta.