CBI files chargesheet against 18 policemen in Ranbir case

Five months after MBA student Ranbir Singh was killed in an alleged fake encounter here, CBI has chargesheeted 18 police personnel, including seven for murder, in the case that rocked Uttarakhand.
 
In the chargesheet filed before CBI judge Narendra Dutt here yesterday, the investigating agency filed murder charges against seven police personnel, including Araghar Chowki incharge GD Bhatt, for allegedly kidnapping and killing Singh on July 3 during the visit of president Pratibha Patil.
 
A total of seven police personnel were arrested in September by CBI after evidence emerged that Singh was allegedly gunned down by the Uttarakhand Police after being caught at Mohini Road in the city where he along with his two other accomplices was allegedly trying to commit some crime.
 
All the seven cops, who are facing murder charges include Bhatt, Santosh Jaiswal, Nitin Chauhan, Rajesh Bist, Neeraj Yadav, Chandra Mohan (all sub-inspectors) and constable Ajit Kumar.
 
Besides filing murder and kidnapping charges under section 302 of the IPC, the CBI also accused all the 18 cops of tampering with evidence.
 
After making a thorough assessment, CBI had reached a conclusion that Singh was killed after being subjected to torture.

Ram Kumar and Ashok Kumar, the two accomplices of Singh, who were seen with him on that day, were also arrested.
 
Police had earlier claimed that the three boys, who were riding a bike, were asked to stop by Bhatt, a sub-inspector at Dalanwala area here.

When Bhatt flashed a message over the wireless, the boys were intercepted at another place and there was an encounter in which Ranbir was killed.

But after the autopsy report, there was a demand for a CBI probe.
 
Buckling under pressure from various quarters, chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank recommended a CBI probe.