Bombay High Court Sentences Former Mumbai Police Officer to Life Imprisonment in Fake Encounter Case

Mumbai, 19th March 2024: The Bombay High Court rendered a verdict today, finding former Mumbai Police ‘encounter specialist’ Pradeep Rameshwar Sharma guilty and sentencing him to life imprisonment for the alleged fake encounter of Ramnarayan Gupta, also known as Lakhan Bhaiyya, purportedly linked to the Chhota Rajan gang. This incident took place in November 2006 at Nana Nani Park in Versova.

A division bench comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Gauri Godse overturned Sharma’s previous acquittal and affirmed the convictions and life sentences of 13 other defendants in the case, including another ‘encounter specialist’ Pradeep Suryavanshi. They were convicted of abducting the victim and his friend Anil Bheda from Vashi in Navi Mumbai, leading to their demise in Mumbai.

According to Rajeev Chavan, a senior advocate representing the prosecution, Lakhan Bhaiyya and Bheda were apprehended from Bheda’s residence in Vashi by a Mumbai Police team and were subsequently killed on November 11, 2006. The police asserted that Lakhan Bhaiyya, aged 38 at the time, had a history of alleged crimes including murder, extortion, and attempted murder.

In July 2013, the Mumbai sessions court acquitted Sharma, the main accused, but convicted several police personnel including Suryavanshi, along with some civilians, sentencing them to life imprisonment. Six other defendants were acquitted by the court, while the cases against two were dropped due to their demise during the appeals process before the high court.

Upon a petition filed by the victim’s brother and advocate Ramprasad Gupta, the High Court initiated a magisterial inquiry into the killing in February 2008, which concluded that the encounter was staged and amounted to cold-blooded murder.

In September 2009, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the High Court, led by IPS officer KMM Prasanna, then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4), to investigate the matter further.

The SIT filed a charge sheet on April 3, 2010, against 22 defendants, revealing the alleged involvement of Sharma, Suryavanshi, and others. It was purported that Sharma and Suryavanshi were contracted by Janardhan Bhange, a real estate agent and former partner of Lakhan Bhaiyya, to eliminate his rival over land disputes. The accused police officers then allegedly enlisted the help of others to carry out the encounter.

Bheda, a crucial witness, went missing from Vashi on March 13, 2011, just before his scheduled testimony in court. His decomposed body was later discovered in the Manor area of Thane.

Aside from the two ‘encounter specialists,’ the case also implicates assistant police inspectors, police sub-inspectors, police constables, and several civilians alleged to have worked for the encounter specialists.