555 'fake encounters' reported in last four years: Govt

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.

According to Union home ministry statistics, a total of 555 cases of alleged fake encounters by police, defence and paramilitary forces were registered by the National Human Rights Commission since April 1, 2009 till February 15, 2013.

Out of the 555 alleged fake encounter cases, 144 cases have been solved and the remaining 411 are either being probed by the police or are before courts for trial or have been termed as unresolved.

Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of alleged fake encounters in last four years -- 138, of which 30 have been taken place in 2009-10, 40 in 2010-11, 42 in 2011-12 and 26 in 2013 (till February).

Manipur recorded 62 alleged fake encounters, Assam 52, West Bengal 35, Jharkhand 30 and Chhattisgarh 29 during the last four years.

For expediting the unresolved cases, concerted efforts are being made by NHRC for obtaining the inquest reports, post-mortem reports, magisterial inquiry reports, etc. from concerned state governments, sources said.

While in none of the cases, any recommendation for disciplinary action prosecution of the public servants was made by NHRC, they did recommend CBI-CID investigations in some cases.

A total of Rs 11.43 crore financial aid has also been recommended by the NHRC in 201 cases of doubtful encounters to the next of kin of the victims.

The 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case in Gujarat continues to dominate public discourse as the CBI filed its chargesheet on July 3.

The investigating agency is expected to file a supplementary chargesheet next month where it may name special director in Intelligence Bureau Rajinder Kumar as one of the accused.

The CBI is also probing the 2003 Sadiq Jamal fake encounter case in Gujarat in which several officials of the Gujarat Police were allegedly involved.

However, a court in Delhi on Thursday ruled that the 2008 encounter in Delhi's Batla House was a genuine gunbattle between the terrorists of Indian Mujahideen and police.

Soon after the Batla House encounter, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had created a big furore going public with a demand for a judicial probe into the encounter calling it fake.

The government, however, had rejected his demand and stuck to its position that the encounter was genuine.

Photograph: Reuters