New Delhi: Ten policemen, who had killed two innocent people mistaking them as gangsters in an encounter in Connaught Place in 1997, have been released from prison.
They were, however, already out on parole because of the coronavirus pandemic. The policemen were called into the jail and let off after completing the formalities. They spent around 16 years in jail.
In a case of mistaken identity, on March 31, 1997, the policemen opened fire and killed two innocent people - Jagjit Singh and Pradeep Goyal who were travelling in a blue car, thinking it was their target gangster Mohammed Yasneen.
They had information that Yasneen would come in a blue car.
Also Read: Sonia Gandhi slams Bihar govt, says people with Mahagathbandhan
A murder case was filed against all the policemen involved in the fake encounter as the dead were later identified as businessmen.
To cover up the mistake the very next day, the police addressed a press conference to claim a successful operation but soon after on the demand of the victims' families the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The release of the policemen needed the Union home ministry’s nod, instead of the lieutenant governor’s as is usually the case. This is because cases investigated by CBI need to be approved for early release by the union government.
