10 policemen convicted in 1997 Connaught Place shootout case

A Sessions Court here today convicted all the 10 policemen accused in the Connaught Place shootout case, in which Delhi Police personnel had shot dead two innocent businessmen on Mach 31, 1997.

New Delhi, Oct 16 : A Sessions Court here today convicted all the 10 policemen accused in the Connaught Place shootout case, in which Delhi Police personnel had shot dead two innocent businessmen on Mach 31, 1997.

The court will pronounce quantum of sentence to the convicts on October 24.

Among those found guilty was former Delhi Police Assistant Commissioner of Police S S Rathi, who was suspended after the incident.

The court has also ordered initiation of criminal proceedings against ballistic expert Roop Singh for giving false investigation report.

Earlier, the court had reserved its verdict on October 8.

On March 31, 1997, a Crime Branch team of the Delhi police, led by Rathi pumped bullets into two businessmen -- Pradeep Goyal and Jajgjit Singh--, killing the two at the spot.

According to the prosecution, the team was chasing an alleged gangster. In Connaught Place, the team surrounded a Maruti Esteem car in which the alleged criminal was supposed to be going.

They then resorted to indiscriminate firing, killing the two businessmen in the process.

On September 8, 1998, the 10 accused policemen were charged with murder, criminal conspiracy and false evidence.

All the ten policemen, including the ACP Rathi were suspended when it was found that the two killed in the encounter were not the criminals but innocent civilians.

The CBI has claimed in its chargesheet in 1997 that in order to cover up their crime, the cops planted a pistol and a few cartridges inside the car to corroborate its claim that the first fire came from the businessmen.

But the forensic report disproved this theory that any shot was fired from the recovered weapon.

The sensational case had led to the removal of the then Delhi Police chief Nikhil Kumar, now a Congress MP.

ANI