Court rejects CBI closure report, orders murder charges against 5 police officers

Jaipur/Jodhpur: The infamous Anandpal Singh encounter case has again shaken up the Rajasthan police circles after 7 years. The CBI court on Wednesday rejected the CBI report and has ordered filing of a murder case against the 5 police officers who were involved in the encounter of gangster Singh. The court has taken cognizance against them and ordered a trial and investigation under section 302 of murder while rejecting the CBI’s closure report. The ACJM CBI court has ordered a case against the then Churu SP Rahul Barhat, then Additional SP Vidya Prakash Chaudhary, DSP Suryaveer Singh Rathore and RAC Head Constable Kailash.

On 24 June 2017, the police’s SOG killed Anandpal Singh hiding in Shravan Singh Rajput’s house in Malasar of Churu district and the questions were being raised on this since the encounter. The CBI had presented a closure report in 2020 regarding the encounter, which was challenged by Anandpal’s wife Raj Kanwar. A protest petition was filed in the ACJM court in 2020. During the hearing, many witnesses were presented on behalf of Raj Kanwar in the court in four years.

Raj Kanwar’s lawyers Bhanwar Singh and Tribhuvan Singh Rathore said, “This was not an encounter and Anandpal was shot one after the other from close range on the roof. The shots were from very close range, the doctor has also confirmed this. Many witnesses were presented in the court. On their basis, the ACJM court has taken cognizance against the police officers. The court has also ordered to present the list of witnesses on behalf of Raj Kanwar before October 16.”