9 more arrested, later released
Of 12 who were granted life term, nine still on the run; six teams formed to nab them
HISAR: The police heaved a sigh of relief after nine more convicts in the Mirchpur case were arrested on Tuesday late night. They were produced before the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that released them under the provision of ‘undergone’ as the convicted persons had already undergone judicial custody after they were arrested following the violence.
The convicts who were produced before the court were identified as Jogender, Sonu, Jagdish, Rajender, Roshan, Sattu, Pradeep, Balwan and Jasbir alias Leelu.
Nine of the 12 convicts who were granted life imprisonment are still absconding.
The case pertains to April 21, 2010 incident that took place in Mirchpur village as a group of villagers belonging to upper caste had allegedly torched over a dozen houses belonging to Dalits, in which 17-year-old physically-challenged girl and her aged father Tara Chand were charred to death.
The trigger for the mayhem was said to be a dispute between upper caste men and a Dalit man over a barking dog. Mirchpur police post in-charge Ranbir Singh and Narnaund police station SHO Sadhu Ram took the accused to Delhi High Court and produced them before the court.
Ranbir said, “We have arrested nine accused with the help of the elders of the village and produced them before the court. The court released them under the provision of undergone. The convicts also submitted their fine in the court.”
SHO Narnaund said for the remaining 21 accused, the police have formed six teams to arrest them. However, the high court extended the date of the arrest of the accused from September 5 to September 20.
The Delhi High Court had convicted 33 persons in the case and sentenced 12 to life imprisonment. Out of them, three are in jail. Those convicted under life imprisonment were identified as Pawan, Kulwinder, Karanveer, Pradeep, Rajpal, Pradeep, Ranbir, Jogel, Sanjay, Satyawaan, Ramphal and Rajender.
WHAT HAPPENED EARLIER
On Monday, the police had met village elders of the Jat community to exhort them to give up those convicted in the case.
As the first high court’s deadline for the convicts to surrender ended on September 1, the court had issued arrest warrants against them and directed the Haryana Police to nab the convicts before September 5.
A Dalit resident of the village, requesting anonymity said, “Earlier, all those convicted could be seen in the village, but soon after the verdict came out, all of them disappeared.”
He further said that over 40 Dalit children have fled the village since the incident, fearing for their lives.
“Though the village is constantly under police supervision, yet the Dalit families are not free from fear,” he added.
Sources in the village said almost all the convicts are the only breadwinners of their families and they may move the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s verdict.
SENTENCE CONSIDERED ‘UNDERGONE’ AS 9 CONVICTS HAD ALREADY BEEN IN JUDICIAL CUSTODY FOLLOWING THEIR ARREST AFTER THE 2010 INCIDENT