47 policemen get life imprisonment in 1991 Pilibhit fake encounter case

It was a fateful day in 1991 for 10 Sikh pilgrims at Pilibhit, who were killed by a group of 47 policemen in the pretext of terrorists. On Monday, a special CBI court awarded life sentence to the accused in the Pilibhit fake encounter case.  The CBI had investigated the case on the directions of Supreme Court. Around 47 policemen were chargesheeted in the case of which 10 died in the course of the trial.

 On Friday, 20 policemen appeared before the court, which sent them to judicial custody. The court also issued non-bailable warrants against the remaining 27 accused.

According to CBI investigating teams, the bus was on its way to Pilibhit on July 12, when a police team stopped it at Kachlapul ghat. Eleven Sikh men were allegedly dragged out of the vehicle alleged of terror activities.

On the intervening night of July 12 and 13, the policemen gunned down the Sikh men in three encounters in the thickets falling under three different police station areas - Bilsanda, Niuria and Pooranpur - in Pilibhit.

The accused policemen then claimed that these men had criminal cases against them and claimed to have recovered arms and ammunition from their possession.

The CBI probe found that the police got the autopsy done on 10 of the bodies and got them cremated the same day.