How many bullets he fired? Bulandshahr man acquitted of murder after 5 years

Time of India

2 days ago

Noida: The fast track court of additional sessions judge, Saurabh Dwivedi, acquitted Neeraj Sharma, who spent five years in jail after police falsely accused him of attempted murder and firing at officers in 2018.
Evidence revealed that Sharma, a Bulandshahr resident, was actually the victim who had been shot by the police. The court ordered his immediate release on May 31, exposing a case of wrongful imprisonment and police misconduct.
The case goes back to July 2, 2018 when a Bisrakh police team was on patrol near Hanuman Temple after a tip-off about suspicious vehicles coming from Sorkha and Hindon Bridge. According to the prosecution, the police team, which was on patrol in their private vehicle, had split into two teams to conduct the checks.
During checks, an informer identified a motorcycle carrying alleged 'anti-social elements' with illegal arms. When asked to stop, the riders allegedly fired at police with the intention of killing and tried to flee.
The pillion rider, Neeraj, shot twice before the bike skidded, throwing both off. While the rider escaped, Neeraj fired again, prompting police to shoot in self-defense. The prosecution claimed during the trial that the firing was retaliatory.
Refuting these claims, Sharma said the encounter was false and instead, he was picked up by police, shot at, and he was booked in a fabricated case. Seeking trial, his counsel, Deepak Vats, said that after firing on Sharma, police made up a story to accuse him of firing on police and possessing illegal arms.
Having heard both sides, the court noted serious flaws in the prosecution's case, including a failure to prove that the pistol recovered from the accused was functional.
No forensic or ballistic tests were conducted to confirm if the pistol had been fired.
Additionally, there were contradictions in witness testimonies as prosecution witness 2 (Rajendra Kumar) claimed the accused fired two bullets, with both empty cartridges recovered from the scene, while witness 1 (Devendra Rathi) stated only one cartridge was found, with the other stuck in the pistol. These inconsistencies raised doubts about the prosecution's version of events.
The court also found the use of a private vehicle and the missing general diary entry, ahead of the claimed patrol of July 2, 2018, as doubtful.
"Under the given circumstances, the prosecution has failed to establish the fact that the pistol produced here belonged to the accused or that he used it to fire on police, and accordingly, he deserves to be acquitted of the attempted murder charge levelled under section 307 IPC and also section 25/27 of the Arms Act for possessing an illegal weapon," the judgement read.
Court ordered Sharma's immediate release and directed him to deposit a personal bond with two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.