16 ex-cops get life term for Hashimpura killings
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sentenced 16 former policemen to life imprisonment for killing 42 people of a minority community in Hashimpura locality of Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut in 1987.
A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel reversed a trial court’s verdict that had acquitted the accused.
The high court termed the massacre “targeted killing” of unarmed and defenceless people by the police.
It convicted the 16 former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel for murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code.
While sentencing all the convicts to life imprisonment, the court said the families of the victims had to wait 31 years to get justice and monetary relief cannot compensate their loss.
NEW DELHI:
The high court directed the convicts to surrender on or before November 22. All the 16 have retired from service.
The high court’s verdict came on pleas challenging a trial court’s decision to acquit 16 policemen of charges of murder and other crimes in the case.
“We have proceeded to reverse the trial court judgement and holding the 16 accused guilty for the offences of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence under the IPC,” the bench said.
It said the evidence against the PAC personnel is “clinching” in nature and the charges against them stand true beyond reasonable doubt.