Fake Encounter: First Ever Conviction Of Police Officers In Mumbai Upheld By Bombay High Court, Ex-Cop Pradeep Sharma Sentenced To Life

The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, sentenced former Mumbai Police encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma to life imprisonment while upholding the life imprisonment awarded to 13 others, including 12 police personnel, in the case of the fake encounter killing of Lakhan Bhaiya in 2006, who allegedly was the former aide of the notorious gangster Chhota Rajan.

It was the first conviction of police officers in a fake encounter.

Today, the HC upheld the life sentence of 13 convicts and acquitted six civilians. The offence against one civilian and one cop was abated as they died after conviction. 

Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse had reserved the appeals for judgment on November 8, 2023. Pradeep Sharma, who was acquitted earlier, was asked to surrender within three weeks.

“All the circumstances led by the prosecution, right from the formation of the police squad, wrongful confinement, criminal abduction and fake encounter, has been proved.”

However, the court lamented the “gruesome” death of sole eye witness Anil Bheda days before his deposition in 2011, calling it a “shame” and a “travesty of justice” that the prime witness lost his life, but no one is booked to date. It hoped that Bheda's perpetrators would be prosecuted. 

Regarding Pradeep Sharma, the sole accused to be acquitted by the trial court, the High Court said all circumstances were “overlooked” by the trial judge and the finding of acquittal “perverse” and “unsustainable” by ignoring and excluding relevant material. “The circumstances point towards the guilt of Pradeep Sharma,” the court said.

The Case

Vashi resident Lakhan Bhaiya (33), whose real name was Ramnarayan Gupta, allegedly a former gangster was abducted and killed in a staged police shooting in Versova on November 11, 2006. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) alleged the encounter was led by former senior inspector Pradeep Sharma, who conspired with Lakhan Bhaiya's disgruntled business partner to bump him off.

However, in July 2013, prime accused Pradeep Sharma was acquitted, while three other policemen -- Inspectors Pradeep Suryawanshi, Dilip Palande, and constable Tanaji Desai -- were convicted of murder. The remaining 18 accused were convicted of abetting the encounter.

One hundred and ten prosecution witnesses and two defence witnesses were examined in the case.

The trial court disbelieved the ballistic report that showed the bullet recovered from Lakhan Bhaiyya's head was fired from Sharma's gun. During the trial, the prosecution also suffered a big blow after the sole eyewitness, Anil Bheda - the man who was abducted along with the victim, disappeared days before he was to depose in court in 2011. His decomposed body was found two months later.

Lakhan Bhaiya's brother Ramprasad Gupta played a vital role in bringing his brother's alleged offenders to the book. Telegrams that he sent to the then Commissioner of Police AN Roy reporting the abduction of his brother before the encounter led the HC to order an SIT headed by then DCP KM Prasanna to re-investigate the case in 2009.

Gupta assisted the prosecution before the trial court as well as the HC. He filed the appeal against Sharma's acquittal and appeals seeking the death penalty for 12 police officers who were part of the encounter team. He argued the matter along with Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Chavan.

“The Encounter case is not just one of abduction, confinement and murder, but a grave case of officers belonging to the law enforcement agency who as custodians of law and order with a moral responsibility of protecting the life of a citizen, ironically being involved in a stage managed, cold blooded murder.

…And in the process of executing their deception they schemed all along in creating and fabricating false records to substantiate their claim of a genuine encounter,” Chavan argued before the HC.

Out of the 21 convicts, two people died. One of them was part of the five convicts out on bail. Before the HC, seven of the 12 policemen argued that they were not part of the encounter team.

While Pradeep Sharma was represented by Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, the other accused were represented by Advocates Sudeep Pasbola, Ashwin Thool, Sanjeev Kadam, Jagdish Shetty, Girish Kulkarni and others.

Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry argued against Sharma's acquittal in the appeal filed by Ramprasad Gupta. 

On December 2, 2015, the Maharashtra Government suspended the conviction of 11 police officers. However, the Bombay High Court set aside the order in 2019.

Convicts

The 12 convicted police officers are Dilip Palande, Nitin Sartape, Ganesh Harpude, Anand Patade, Prakash Kadam, Devidas Sakpal, Pandurang Kokam, Ratnakar Kamble, Sandeep Sardar, Tanaji Desai, Pradeep Suryavanshi and Vinayak Shinde. It also upheld the conviction of civilian Hitesh Solanki.

The Court, however, set aside the life sentences of Manoj Mohan Raj alias Mannu, Shailendra Pandey, and Suresh Shetty, among others.

HC observed on Anil Bheda

“We may observe that star witness to the abduction- Anil Bheda - was abducted and murdered on March 13, 2011, in the most gruesome manner, four days after the charge was framed. He was found burnt, and only based on DNA his body was identified. It is a matter of shame that the prime witness lost his life and till date no one has been booked, it is a travesty of justice.”

The police's duty is to uphold the law, and it is important for them to investigate and pursue the case to its logical conclusion lest people lose faith in the system.

'Encounter Specialist' Pradeep Sharma

Sharma is a 1983 batch Maharashtra police officer who is alleged to have killed 112 gangsters in 25 years of police service. He was first dismissed in 2008 under a rarely invoked Act of the Constitution for his links with the underworld and allegations that he had amassed over Rs 3,000 crore. While he was cleared of these allegations in 2009 and reinstated as an inspector, he was arrested in January 2010 in connection with the Lakhan Bhaiya killing and dismissed again. After his acquittal in 2013, Sharma was re-arrested in the Antilia Bomb Scare and Mansukh Hiran Murder Case in 2021.

However, last year, the Supreme Court granted Sharma bail.

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