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Hashimpura Written Submissions.Docx Bar & Bench (www.barandbench.com) 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 574 OF 2015 In the matter of: ZULFIKAR NASIR & ORS. … APPELLANTS v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH … RESPONDENT WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE APPELLANTS/VICTIMS IN THE APPEAL Most Respectfully Submitted: A. That the present case relates to a horrific incident of targeted abductions and killings of around 42 Muslim men, by officials of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, a reserve police force of the State of Uttar Pradesh, on the night of 22.05.1987. The evidence led in the case, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the victims belonging to one community were deliberately and brutally killed by men in uniform. B. The Appellant No. 1 to 3 are victims/survivors of the incident, who had been abducted by the Provincial Armed Constabulary (hereinafter referred to as ‘PAC’). Appellants No. 4 to 27 are family members of the persons who were killed in the incident in the present case. C. The present appeal has been filed under Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, against the Judgment of the Learned Trial Court dated 21.03.2015, whereby the court acquitted all the accused (Respondents No. 2 to 17) in the present case. BRIEF FACTS 1. The case of the Prosecution is that in the month of May 1987, communal riots had taken place in Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh and consequently, the police and military were posted there for riot control and security, including the C-Company of the 41st Battalion of the PAC. The nineteen accused persons in the present case were all officers of the C-Company of the 41st Battalion of the PAC and the Company Bar & Bench (www.barandbench.com) 2 Commander of the C-Company was accused Surinder Pal Singh (now deceased). 2. It is the case of the Prosecution that on Friday, the 22nd of March 1987, officers/jawans of the C-Company of the 41st Battalion of the PAC i.e. the accused/Respondents No. 2 to 17, abducted around 42 unarmed young boys and men, all Muslims, from Hashimpura Mohalla of Meerut, and put them in a yellow coloured PAC truck. 3. It is further their case that this truck was taken to Gang Nehar in Muradnagar and three of the abducted persons were shot at and these bodies were thrown into Gang Nehar canal. Seeing this, the remaining abducted persons in the truck began screaming for help, at which point, the PAC jawans began to fire indiscriminately, inside the truck. At that time, one jawan of the PAC, Leela Dhar, sustained injuries on account of the firing that took place inside the truck. He got himself treated at the SVBP Hospital, Meerut, the next day i.e. on 23.05.1987 at around 10:30 am. Four of the abducted persons survived these shootings, including one Muzib-ur-Rehman, on whose statement, FIR No. 141/87 (Ex. PW-4/A at Page 1439), P.S. Muradnagar, was registered. 4. On seeing the approaching lights of another vehicle, the truck was taken by the PAC jawans to Hindon Canal near Makanpur Village, where the remaining persons were shot at and their bodies were thrown into the canal. One person, Babudeen, survived both these incidents of shootings, and on his statement, FIR No. 110/87 (Ex. PW- 11/DA, Page 1257), P.S. Link Road, Ghaziabad, was registered. 5. It is further the case of the prosecution that after carrying out these killings, the yellow coloured PAC truck was taken to the Motor Transport Section of the 41st Battalion of the PAC in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, where the truck was thoroughly washed in an attempt to destroy evidence. 6. The indiscriminate firing by the PAC jawans inside the truck created dents and a hole in the body of the truck, which was subsequently covered by welding an iron patch over it. Bar & Bench (www.barandbench.com) 3 THE EVIDENCE LED BY THE PROSECUTION TO SUBSTANTIATE THE ALLEGATIONS A. EVIDENCE OF ABDUCTION AND MURDER BY OFFICIALS OF THE PAC The incident of abduction and murder by officials of the PAC, stands proved from a reading of the evidence of PW-1 Zulfikar Nasir, PW-2 Mohammed Naeem, PW-3 Mohammed Usman, PW-4 Muzib-ur-Rehman and PW-11 Babudeen, who were all young boys/men aged between 16-18 years of age, at the time of the incident. All of them (except PW-2, Mohammed Naim) are injured witnesses, and all these witnesses survived despite being shot at by the accused persons. This elevates them to the category of natural, truthful and uninterested witnesses. From a combined reading of the evidence of the above witnesses, the following facts stand proved beyond any doubt: 1. That in the month of May 1987, communal riots had erupted in Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh. 2. That on the evening of 22.05.1987, officials of the PAC as well as other security forces, rounded up persons belonging to the Muslim community in Hashimpura Mohalla, Meerut, near a peepal tree in the Mohalla. 3. That personnel belonging to the PAC, Army and Police divided the gathered people of Hashimpura Mohalla into two groups, the first comprising of elderly men and young boys, while the second comprised of young men. The group of young men were made to sit in different trucks by the PAC and the Army officials, and were taken away from Hashimpura Mohalla. Some of these persons were taken to P.S. Civil Lines and Police Lines, Meerut and released several days later. 4. That PAC officials/jawans wearing ‘khaki peeli’ coloured uniforms and armed with rifles with ‘sangeens’ (bayonets), gathered about 40-45 men and young boys from the first group, and made them board a yellow coloured truck with ‘PAC’ written on it. About 18-20 PAC jawans also got into the same truck, and the truck began moving away from the Mohalla, towards Delhi Road, and after travelling some distance, the Bar & Bench (www.barandbench.com) 4 truck stopped for some time, and then started moving again. After about 1-1.5 hours, the truck reached the patri of Gang Nehar, Muradnagar, and after travelling for about 1-1.5 km on the patri, the truck was brought to a halt and the lights of the truck were switched off. 5. After stopping the truck, the accused persons started bringing down the abducted persons from the truck one by one. First, one Mohd Yasin, resident of Hashimpura Mohalla, was brought down from the truck, fired at by the accused persons, and his body was thrown into the Gang Nehar canal by them. Next, a boy named Ashraf was brought down from the truck, fired at by the accused persons, and thrown into the Gang Nehar canal. The third person to be brought down from the truck was PW-1 Zulfikar Nasir, and he was also shot at by the accused persons and thrown into the waters. 6. At the time when PW-1 Zulfikar Nasir was being shot, the abducted persons inside the truck began shouting ‘BACHAO BACHAO’. Seeing this, the accused persons present inside the truck began firing at the persons inside the truck and in the process many persons sustained bullet injuries, including PW-3 Mohammed Usman, PW-4 Muzib-ur- Rehman, and PW-11 Babudeen and Leela Dhar, one of the accused himself. After this, the accused persons began throwing the bodies of these injured/killed persons into the waters and in this manner around 15-16 bodies were thrown into the canal by the accused persons, including those of PW-2 Mohammed Naeem, PW-3 Mohammed Usman and PW-4 Muzib-ur-Rehman, assuming them to be dead. 7. Upon noticing the headlights of an approaching vehicle, the accused persons stopped firing and the truck was driven back towards the main road. After about 30 minutes, the truck was again stopped on the ‘pul’/culvert of Hindon canal, near Makanpur village. The accused persons got out of the truck and opened the dala (back) of the truck. They again began to bring down the abducted persons from the truck one by one and fired at them. In this manner, the accused persons fired at about 15-20 persons and threw their bodies into the canal waters. PW-11 Babudeen was also shot at in this manner and assuming him to be dead, his body was thrown into the canal waters, where he was subsequently discovered by PW-13 and PW-14. Bar & Bench (www.barandbench.com) 5 These facts have emerged from the consistent depositions of PW 1 to 4 and PW 11, and the same can be read from their evidence on the following pages: For PW-1 Zulfikar Nasir (Pages 8 to 10) For PW-2 Mohd Naseem (Pages 23 & 24) For PW-3 Mohd Usman (Pages 37 to 40) For PW-4 Muzib-ur-Rehman (Pages 50 to 52) For PW-11 Babudeen (Pages 76 to 80) That, the credibility and truthfulness of these witnesses is further strengthened from the fact that these witnesses suffered bullet injuries when they were fired upon by the accused persons. The injuries sustained by PW-4 and PW-11 was noted by the Trial Court upon visual examination during the recording of their evidence (Pages 52, 79 & 80, where the injuries have been shown and the factum of the old scar marks on their bodies have been recorded). Please refer to the MLC of PW-3 i.e. Ex.
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