High court for CBI probe into Jharkhand ‘fake encounter’

The Jharkhand high court on Monday ordered a CBI probe into the alleged Bakoria fake encounter observing that the shoddy police investigation is eroding the people’s faith which must be restored.

It was alleged that 12 innocent people were killed in a ‘fake encounter’ between Maoists and security forces at Bakoria in Palamu district on June 8, 2015.

A bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay ordered a CBI probe after noting down that the state criminal investigation department (CID) was not moving its probe in right direction.

“The bench observed that the slack investigation by the state agencies has been eroding the people’s faith in the system, which should be restored by transferring the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),” said senior advocate RS Mazumdar, representing the petitioner Jawahar Yadav, father of para teacher Uday Yadav who was killed in the encounter.

“Delivering the 22-page judgment, the bench also asked the CBI to submit its probe report to the high court,” Mazumdar said.

Ex-ADG alleges DGP of scuttling probe

The ongoing CID probe into Bakoria case courted controversy early this year after the former additional director general of CID, MV Rao, had written a letter to the home department accusing the state DGP DK Pandey of scuttling the investigating.

“...DGP asked me to go slow. He also advised me not to worry about the court orders,” Rao had said in his January 1 letter, alleging that his quick transfer was a part of larger conspiracy.

Rao added that following the high court’s order, he reviewed the progress of Bakoria case.

He had clarified that statements of Harish Pathak, officer-in-charge of the police station concerned and Hemant Toppo, DIG, Palamu Range, were recorded but none of them had acknowledged that an such encounter took place. “The photographs of the encounter site, dead bodies and other material available on record, the absence of blood at the encounter site and in the vehicle raised many questions which need to be addressed by a thorough probe in professional manner,” Rao said in the letter, which was also forwarded to governor Droupadi Murmu and chief minister Raghubar Das.

Uproar in assembly

Following the ADG’s letter, opposition parties had raised the issue during the assembly budget session demanding DGP’s removal.

Petitioner’s plea

The case before the high court relates to a criminal writ petition filed by Yadav seeking CBI probe into the ‘fake encounter’ case. The petitioner alleged that police had killed 12 innocent people branding them as extremists in a stage managed encounter.