As long as he was alive, he remained an illusion for the police of five states for two years. When he died, the police had to wait for 20 days for his last rites. And now after his death, when the CBI filed the closure report on his encounter case, this closure report once again became a thorn in the neck of the police. The court has ordered a murder case against all the policemen involved in the encounter of Rajasthan’s notorious gangster Anandpal.
Murder case against seven policemen
That means even the dead and alive Anandpal is no longer giving up the pursuit of Rajasthan Police. Rejecting the closure report of CBI, Jodhpur CBI Court has now ordered to register a murder case against the seven policemen who encountered Anandpal, who were once awarded medals after Anandpal’s encounter.
Who was Anandpal?
But then the question is that the CBI which had found Anandpal’s encounter correct in its investigation, how was the same investigation proved false or rather wrong in the court? What happened after all that the court rejected the close report and ordered a case against the policemen? So, to understand this story, you have to know what arguments did Anandpal’s family present in the court against this encounter, in front of which the entire investigation report of CBI proved to be nothing? But before telling you all these things in a sequential manner, let us quickly know who was Anandpal? And how did his encounter happen, which has come under question.
Anandpal was killed on 24 June 2017
Gangster Anandpal Singh, who came from Nagaur district of Rajasthan, was known for his dangerous style. He had many serious charges against him including more than 7 murders and once arrested, he dodged the police and ran away in such a way that he was never caught again. Not only Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh followed Anandpal for two years. And finally, SOG of Rajasthan Police and Churu Police killed Anandpal in an encounter on 24 June 2017.
Story of the encounter, in the words of the police
Police said that while chasing Anandpal, they got information about his two brothers Vicky alias Rupesh and Devendra alias Gattu, who were arrested by the police. After that, as per his information, Anandpal’s location was revealed, which was Malasar village of Churu district. Here Anandpal was hiding on the roof of a house. The police surrounded the entire house and after this Anandpal was asked to surrender. He also said that his brother is with the police, so he should surrender. But according to the police, Anandpal started firing at the policemen from the rooftop with a dangerous weapon like AK-47. And when the police retaliated, Anandpal was killed by police bullets.
Demonstration with dead body for 20 days
But since Anandpal’s family members and his loved ones believed that this police encounter was fake, they refused to cremate Anandpal’s body until action was taken against the policemen guilty in this case. Then people kept protesting with Anandpal’s dead body for about 20 days. And finally the then Rajasthan government handed over the investigation of this case to CBI. CBI investigated the case and found the police statements regarding the encounter to be true and after its investigation, filed a closure report in this case in the year 2020.
The family challenged the closure report
But Anandpal’s family challenged this closure report. The hearing continued in the ACJM court for 4 days and finally after hearing both the sides, the court rejected the closure report and issued an order to file a case against the 7 policemen who carried out the encounter under various sections including murder. Because the court found that Anandpal’s encounter was not genuine but false and that after capturing him alive, the police had killed him by shooting him several times at close range.
But now the question is, what argument did the defense present, which ruined the closure report? So now let us try to understand those arguments point by point.
Argument No. 1 – Glock pistol exposes lies
Police said that Anandpal was firing from AK-47 from the rooftop itself. In such a situation, it was difficult to go to the roof amid the shower of bullets. The police somehow took Anandpal along with his brother to the stairs of the house, but Anandpal kept firing from above and finally the police also retaliated and then Anandpal staggered and fell on the stairs with his AK-47. That means the police did not go to the rooftop during the encounter. But investigation revealed that Anandpal was also shot by CO Vidya Prakash’s Glock pistol. And the shell of that Glock pistol was found on the roof of the house. The question is that if the bullet was fired from below, then how was the pistol casing found on the roof? Forensic experts have also said in their report on this matter that the shell of a Glock pistol falls from where it is fired. That means the police lied about the firing.
Argument No. 2 – There were marks of being shot at close range on the dead body
After the so-called encounter, Anandpal’s body was post-mortemed twice. In the post-mortem report conducted on the second, forensic experts found that there were tattooing marks near the seven bullet wounds. Such marks are made only when shot at close range. These marks present on Anandpal’s body also expose the claims of the police, because the police had told that he was on the terrace and the police was firing from below.
Argument No. 3 – Constable’s misrepresentation exposed
During the CBI investigation, police said that constable Sohan Singh was at the top of the stairs during the encounter, while Anandpal was firing bursts from above with his AK-47 rifle. In return he also fired a shot from his AK-47 which hit Anandpal. However, Sohan Singh was also shot in this encounter and after about 9 months, Sohan Singh changed his statement and said that the bullet that hit him was from Anandpal’s AK-47, which hit the wall and hit his back. Was. But the court found that this was practically impossible at the time of the incident. This point also went against the police and CBI.
Argument number- 4 – How were government weapon cases found on the roof?
At the place where Anandpal was hiding on the terrace, not only were the shell casings of the bullets fired from the CO’s Glock pistol, but also the shell casings of the rifle and pistol bullets of other policemen were present. Now according to the story, when Anandpal was shot on the stairs and he fell there, then where did the government weapon cases come from on the rooftop? This argument also brought the closed report under doubt.
Argument No. 5 – Anandpal Bhai exposed the encounter
The police had taken Anandpal’s brother Rupendrapal with them to the spot. And Anandpal was told that his brother was with them, so he should surrender. Rupendrapal himself also asked Anandpal to surrender on the request of the police. But despite surrendering, the police pushed Anandpal to the ground and shot him several times at close range. Rupendrapal said the same thing in his testimony, which put a big question mark on the police encounter theory.
Case filed against policemen under serious sections including murder
Obviously, these were some of the points which blew away the police’s encounter theory and in this case, the court booked the then SP of Churu Rahul Barath, the then CO of Kuchaman City Vidya Prakash and the then CI of SOG Suryaveer Singh, along with a total of seven policemen. Ordered to prosecute the case against him. The court has booked the accused policemen under IPC section 302 i.e. murder along with sections 324, 325 and 326 i.e. causing dangerous injury with weapons, 149 i.e. committing a crime collectively and 147 and 148 i.e. rioting. I have talked about registering a case.
Anandpal’s wife had challenged in the court
The closure report of CBI was challenged in the court by Anandpal’s wife Rajkanwar. Apart from Rajkanwar himself, there were testimonies of Anandpal’s brother Manjeet Kanwar and two doctors who conducted the post-mortem of Anandpal’s body and these testimonies raised questions on the closure report. Now, on the orders of the court, it has been decided that the case will be filed against the accused policemen, but when the CBI, the agency investigating the police encounter, has declared the encounter correct in this case, then the question arises as to whether the policemen are responsible in this case. What will happen to the case going on in the court against? Will only Anandpal’s family present their views as the prosecution in the court? And will the crime of the policemen be proved in the court?
Anandpal had a hold on Rajput society
To say the least, Anandpal was a gangster. He was accused of many serious crimes including murder. But the truth is that a large section of the society looked at Anandpal as Robin Hood. That is, one who robs from the rich and fills the pockets of the poor. He had a good influence especially among the youth of Rajput community. This is the reason why when Anandpal’s encounter took place on 24 July 2017, people came out on the streets against it and troubled the administration for 20 days.
Police spent Rs 9 crore in search of gangster
Anandpal was caught by the police only once in his criminal life and after that he absconded so much that the police could not find him. The police chased him for about two years and raided at least three hundred places. A team consisting of SP level officers and at least 50 soldiers used to go in search of him. And lakhs of rupees were spent every time. According to police sources, according to an estimate, the police had spent around Rs 9 crore in search of Anandpal before the encounter.
Politics and liquor smuggling made criminals
Anandpal had enmity with another gangster named Raju Thehat. Anandpal’s associates attacked Raju Thehat in jail in 2014. After which Raju Thehat also got Anandpal attacked. Later on 3 December 2022, Raju Thehat was murdered in Sikar. The blame fell on Anandpal only. In fact, Anandpal was different from other gangsters in many ways. Despite being a law graduate and B.Ed, he not only chose the path of crime but also created his sophisticated image by speaking fluent English. Anandpal, a resident of Sanvarad village of Nagaur, once wanted to become a teacher. But politics and liquor smuggling brought him to the path of crime.
Caste equation made popular
But as soon as he entered the world of crime along with smuggling, he simplified the caste equation in such a way that people of the society started liking him. Gradually he committed several murders one after the other. In some cases the corpse was even burnt with acid. Due to which fear of his name was created. There was a time when a coin was minted in his name in Rajasthan. But now everything is a thing of the past.
(Input from Hanif Khan from Nagaur and Dr. Ashok Sharma from Jodhpur)