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The name of the senior officer who had ordered the killing of the men picked up from Hashimpura in Meerut on May 22, 1987 is still a secret.
Several secular governments have come and gone in Uttar Pradesh and centre since 1987, yet the victims of the Meerut riots and relatives of those killed in fake encounters at Hashimpura are yet to get justice. The perpetrators are still moving freely rather getting praised and promoted in services. A RTI plea filed by relatives of victims of custodial killings 20 years ago has revealed how the police deal with one of their own men when accused of flouting the law themselves. Marking 20 years of the killing of 42 Muslim men in custody at Hashimpura of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, their family lawyers had organised 615 RTI applications with the Police Armed Constabulary (PAC) in UP, to find out details of the status of the 16 accused PAC officers and if they were still in service.
The survivors and families of the victims asked the State why the accused PAC men charged by a Delhi Sessions Court for the murder of 42 Muslim men, continue to be in active service of the PAC? Was any departmental inquiry initiated against them? Was any disciplinary action taken against them? Or were they rewarded with promotions in rank and emoluments? Were the 19 accused PAC men ever suspended from service? What were the grounds on which they were reinstated? They asked for copies of the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of each of the accused persons to be made available.
The responses received by lawyer Vrinda Grover have revealed some startling facts. The Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of the 16 PAC officers, who were charge-sheeted for the custodial killings and are being tried for murder (first in UP, and then by a Delhi Sessions Court since September 2000) reveal that of the 19 accused initially, other than the three who had died since the incident or those who have retired, all continue to remain in service. Not only this, the ACRs reveal that there is no trace of any misconduct on them. In fact, they have been praised for their work and some have been classified in the category of “ati uttam” or “excellent”. For example, the ACR of charge-sheeted PAC officer Ram Dhyan for 1987, after the CB CID started its inquiry, declares him to be a “smart aur swasth jawan hai, football team ka sadasya hai, is varsh do naqad puraskar paaye hain” (a smart and healthy jawan, who is a member of the football team, and has won two cash prizes this year).
Says Grover: “Going through the detailed ACRs of the accused jawans really highlights how undependable and flawed the internal working of the police departments is. Another shocking thing is that of the over 100 pages of documents given to RTI applicants, there are 19 pages of blank, but attested sheets that have been given as part of the response to the applicants. The applicants intend going into appeal against this. Two important questions remain unanswered, despite pointed questions being asked on these; one, the CB CID report (which was submitted to the state government in February 1994) has still not been made available, and the other, the name of the senior officer who had ordered the killing of the men picked up from Hashimpura in Meerut on May 22, 1987 is still a secret. Grover however told this correspondent that she would continue to fight for the justice for the victims of the Hashmipura killings.
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