The special CBI court had examined 61 prosecution witnesses and 17 defence witnesses in the case. (Representational Image)
More than 35 years after Man Singh, son of the erstwhile king of Bharatpur Kishan Singh, and his two associates were killed by Rajasthan police in an alleged encounter on February 21, 1985, a special CBI court in Mathura Tuesday held 11 policemen including a Deputy Superintendent of Police guilty under sections 189, 149 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
All the 11 accused, who have since retired from service, were sent to jail. The court is expected to pronounce the sentence on Wednesday.
“On Tuesday, 14 accused who were out on bail surrendered before the court of District Judge, Mathura, Sadhna Rani (Thakur). The court held 11 policemen including a Deputy SP — all native of Rajasthan — guilty, and they were taken into custody. The court acquitted three others for want of evidence,” said District Government Counsel, Mathura, Shivram Singh.
The special CBI court had examined 61 prosecution witnesses and 17 defence witnesses in the case.
After the court verdict in Mathura, Man Singh’s daughter Krishnendra Kaur Deepa, a former BJP MP and ex-minister of tourism in the state, told reporters she was happy justice had been served after 35 years.
A day before the alleged encounter, on February 20, 1985, Man Singh, the then titular head of Bharatpur had, in a fit of rage allegedly because Congress workers tore and vandalised his posters, crashed his jeep into the helicopter of the then Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Shiv Charan Mathur. Mathur was in Bharatpur to campaign for retired bureaucrat Vijendra Singh, who was fielded by the Congress party against Man Singh, a seven-time independent MLA from Deeg.
Following this incident, a case was lodged against Man Singh at the Deeg police station. Next day, when Man Singh, along with his associates, was en route to his constituency Deeg for an election rally, he was shot dead by police personnel who had blocked the road following a curfew order. Two other men – Sumer Singh and Hari Singh – had also lost their lives in the alleged encounter.
Vijay Singh, son-in-law of Man Singh, who had accompanied him, was not hurt in the firing. The policemen hit him and later took him to the police station. Due to public pressure, he was released. Following Vijay Singh’s complaint to the Superintendent of Police, an FIR was lodged by the police. After the state government recommended a CBI investigation into Man Singh’s death, the agency took charge of the case on February 28, 1985, and filed a chargesheet in July 1985.
Man Singh’s death had created a political storm in Rajasthan with large protests against the then Congress Chief Minister Shiv Charan Mathur. It had repercussions even in the national capital Delhi, and led to the resignation of Mathur as the state Chief Minister.
Traditionally, royal families in Rajasthan were at loggerheads with the Congress party. In the past, many members of erstwhile royal families contested elections either as independents or under the banner of outfits such as the Jan Sangh and Ram Rajya Parishad.
Man Singh’s nephew Vishvendra Singh is the MLA from Deeg-Kumher constituency. One of the 18 MLAs in Sachin Pilot camp, he was recently suspended from the primary membership of the Congress after the party accused him of conspiring to topple the Ashok Gehlot government.