Uttarakhand HC orders probe into death of man in Haldwani clashes – ‘eyewitness statement ignored'

Indian Express

5 days ago

The Uttarakhand High Court has ordered a special investigation team to probe the death of a man who was allegedly shot dead during the Banbhoolpura riots in Haldwani in February 2024.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra has also ordered the transfer of the investigating officer, Neeraj Bhakuni, out of the district. The SIT has been asked to submit a progress report every month, and the court will monitor the probe.
The petition was filed by Parvez, the victim Faheem's brother, seeking a CBI probe into his death.
On June 4, after the final report was submitted by the IO, the court said that the word 'shocking' would be an understatement.
'The IO appears to have gone around recording the statements of all and sundry and comes to a conclusion that all of them have not confirmed witnessing the act and on that basis, he attempts to justify his act of ignoring the statement of the complainant, who claims to have witnessed certain persons using firearms to shoot his brother and the fact remains that the brother of the complainant died due to gunshot injuries. Despite such a statement of an eye-witness, the IO has filed a closure report, probably one and only of its kind in the country, where an eyewitness statement is ignored and a closure report is based on people who appear not to be the eyewitnesses,' the court had remarked.
Following this, the DGP was asked to look into the closure report and file his statement as an affidavit. The court set up an SIT after perusing the affidavit Wednesday.
The petition filed by the victim's brother had alleged that there was no progress in the investigation despite the chief judicial magistrate's court ordering a probe in May last year.
Earlier, on the IO's statement that the pendrive with videos was tampered with, the court had said, 'Whether the pendrive was subjected to a forensic examination by competent authorities is not forthcoming. The IO by stating that the source of WhatsApp videos has not been disclosed appears to have abdicated his duties as an investigator'.
It further said: 'By stating that the videos on the pendrive are tampered, he has assumed the role of a Judge, and by attempting to circumvent the question and the veracity of the statement of the eyewitness, based on the statements of third parties, he has assumed the role of a defence counsel. That apart, the opinion formed on the basis of the fact that the bullet has passed from left to right, and hence, could not have been fired from a small weapon, here, he assumes the role of a ballistic expert.'
Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More