1991 Pilibhit fake encounter: 47 UP cops get life for killing 11 Sikhs

Lucknow: A special CBI court on Monday sentenced 47 police personnel to life imprisonment for killing 11 Sikh pilgrims in fake encounters at three different spots in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on July 12, 1991.

CBI court judge Lalloo Singh had on Friday convicted the accused policemen under IPC Sections 302, 364, 365, 218 and 117, to be read with IPC Sec. 120 B. The judge said there was ample evidence against the police personnel for kidnapping and conspiring to kill the pilgrims by labelling them as terrorists.

Twenty- seven policemen held guilty by a CBI court in Lucknow have gone missing and could not be produced before the court at the time of pronouncement of the interim order.

According to sources, many of them have disappeared after taking long leave. All the 47 personnel had apparently staged the fake encounter for the sake of promotions.

It may be recalled that on July 12, 1991, a group of Sikh pilgrims was returning by bus after visiting Nanakmatha, Patna Sahib, Huzur Sahib, and other holy places. The police intercepted the bus near a bridge at Kachhalaghat, in Pilibhit, and forced 11 Sikhs to get off the bus.

The pilgrims were later killed and the police personnel claimed that they were terrorists and showed illegal recovery of arms from their possession. The bodies were disposed of by the policemen and not handed over to the family members.

Later, a lawyer, R.S. Sodhi, filed a PIL in the Supreme Court which handed over the probe to the CBI. After investigation, the CBI found that the Sikhs were innocent and were killed in a fake encounter in which station officers, a sub-inspector and constables of different police stations were involved.

It filed a chargesheet against 57 policemen on June 12, 1995. Ten accused died during the 25-year trial. The court had framed charges against the accused on January 20, 2003.