MAIN ACCUSED IN CONSTABLE’S KILLING SHOT DEAD IN ENCOUNTER

AGRA: The main accused in the killing of a police constable in Kasganj district on February 9 was shot dead in an encounter with the police in the same district on Sunday, the police said.

“The encounter took place between 2.30am and 3am on Sunday in the Katri area of Kasganj district. Moti Singh was injured in the encounter and taken to hospital where he was declared dead,” said deputy inspector general of police (Aligarh range) Piyush Mordia.

There was a reward of Rs 1 lakh on Moti Singh, who was on the run since the killing of the constable. He had allegedly looted the service revolver of a sub-inspector on February 9. “We have recovered the service revolver of the injured sub-inspector Ashok Kumar from the accused Moti Singh,” the DIG said.

Giving further details, superintendent of police (Kasganj) Manoj Sonkar said to reporters on Sunday that six teams were formed for arresting Moti Singh.

Police got a tip-off that Moti Singh was hiding in a forest near the Kali river along with his aides. When a police team started cordoning the area around 2.30am, the miscreants opened fire, the SP said.

“Police in self-defence fired at the criminals in which Moti was injured, while another criminal escaped. Injured Moti was taken to a primary health centre in Sidhpura from where he was referred to Kasganj district hospital. The doctors there declared him dead during treatment,” he added. The body of the accused had been sent for post-mortem, police said.

Sonkar also said, “Moti Singh was a history-sheeter. There were a dozen cases against him at the Sidhpura police station of Kasganj. A country made pistol was also recovered from him.”

Constable Devendra Singh Jasawat was beaten to death and sub-inspector Ashok Kumar was injured when a police team had gone to the Nagla Dheemar village to serve a warrant on Moti, an alleged liquor kingpin.

NEW DELHI: Suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of proof, the Supreme Court has said, stressing that an accused is presumed to be innocent unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There has to be a chain of evidence so complete as to show that in all human probability, the act must have been done by the accused, a bench of justices Indira Banerjee and Hemant Gupta ruled, while upholding an order of the Orissa High Court which acquitted two men accused of murdering a home guard by electrocuting him.