Mumbai court junks plea to summon 4 cops as additional accused in gangster encounter case

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) A Mumbai court has rejected a police plea to summon four Haryana cops as additional accused in a case pertaining to the 2016 alleged fake encounter of dreaded gangster Sandeep Gadoli here, noting there is no prima facie evidence against them.
As per the prosecution, these four people were part of the police team that came from Haryana, the home state of the gangster, and killed Gadoli in a shootout in suburban Andheri more than nine years ago.
Their role as "conspirators" came to light during examination of witnesses in the case, it contended.
However, Additional Sessions Judge Prashant C Kale on Monday (July 7) rejected the plea, ruling "there is no prima facie evidence against other persons for issuing summons against them as prayed."
In a related development, the prosecution on Tuesday informed the court that recording of evidence in the case has been completed.
Gadoli, who hailed from Gurugram, was killed in an encounter by the Haryana police in Mumbai's Airport Metro Hotel on February 7, 2016. However, the encounter was subsequently termed as 'fake' by the Mumbai police.
Later, the Mumbai police arrested eight persons, including five policemen and the gangster's "girlfriend" Divya Pahuja, in connection with the case.
Pahuja (27), a former model, was shot dead in January 2024 in a hotel room in Gurugram, months after being granted bail after spending seven years in jail in connection with the encounter case.
According to the Mumbai police, Gadoli had been lured into a trap with the help of Pahuja and killed in a stage managed encounter.
Charges were framed against the eight accused persons and trial in the case commenced.
The prosecution said it has examined 43 witnesses and evidence revealed roles played by each accused in the case.
The role of other four persons (Haryana cops) was disclosed as having committed an offence under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) from testimony of the witnesses, it said.
"Since the role of these other persons is spelt out in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, it is the duty of this court to direct these persons to be arrested and or summoned so as to be tried together with the eight accused," the plea filed by the prosecution argued.
The defence opposed the police plea, saying it was a tactic to delay the trial.
It contended that information regarding these four people was already part of the chargesheet and no fresh material had surfaced during the trial.
The court, in its order on July 7, held "there is no prima facie evidence against other (four) persons regarding an agreement between them and others to commit an illegal act and actions were taken in furtherance of the conspiracy."

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)