NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: In Uttar Pradesh, crime and punishment are often separated by evidentiary inadequacies: A criminal booked for heinous crimes manages to bail himself out because he is so feared that nobody comes forward to record statements against him.
Vikas Dubey, who was killed in a suspected staged encounter, was out on bail. In fact, those who doubt the police version in Dubey’s case tend to agree that had he been alive, it would have been almost impossible to get him convicted in any, or all of the cases under which his conviction was to be sought in a court of law.
Senior police officers say that’s a dangerous situation for a law-based system and mirrors social chaos exacerbated by political interference and dilatory legal processes.
A police officer, who does not want to be named and was an Investigating Officer in one of the Vikas Dubey cases, says gangsters like him exercise enormous influence on villagers so much that despite assurances given to them for their protection, no one comes forward to testify, citing threat to life.
“In such cases we are helpless as a mere filing of a case yields no result in a court of law, which demands irrefutable evidence,” said the police officer.
“First, policing in the criminal justice system is compromised, which results in failed prosecution. That’s especially so in cases against gangsters, where prosecution often fails to gather evidence and pleads the case by recording statements of the witnesses under Section 164 of CrPC,” says Vikram Singh, former DGP, Uttar Pradesh Police.
“When the police fail to provide evidence and witnesses turn hostile, courts remain unmoved, letting the gangster go scot-free. The courts then direct the police to re-investigate the cases,” said Singh.
Supreme Court lawyer Rekha Agarwal says courts can’t go and conduct investigation on their own. The best the court can do in such cases is order a re-investigation.
“So the onus of securing bails and acquittals are largely to be blamed on the police officers who are unable to gain the trust of the people to make them credible witnesses,” she said.
Soon after the Dubey incident, the UP Police came out with a list of gangsters who despite having serious charges are currently out on bail and are trying to nab each of them.
Here’s looking at a five such cases in UP:
Lallu Yadav: The Lucknow police say he has 54 criminal cases against him, including four murders and seven attempted murders, besides illegal possession of firearms. He was a member of the Zila Panchayat and his wife was the head of a block.
Yadav heads a land mafia and operates from Kakroi on the outskirts of Lucknow. He has acted in two films - Chhabili and Lucknow Ka Bittu. He’s currently out on bail. Most cases against him are on trial stage and no charge-sheet filed.
Sanjeev Dwivedi alias Ramu Dwivedi: A former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLC has over a dozen criminal cases registered against him at Chauri-Chaura police station in Gorakhpur. Booked twice under UP gangster Act, and once under Arms Act, Dwivedi has also been booked in cases of rioting and criminal trespass. Dwivedi is out on bail, cases pending in various courts with conviction in none so far. Police have failed to bring any witness in the murder cases.
Rajesh Yadav: An alleged associate of Chhota Rajan. Rajesh Yadav has been slapped with 22 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, rioting, abduction and others. Out on bail, Yadav’s gang has been lying low for the last one-and-a-half years. The order sheet shows no court has proceeded with the trial as there was no progress in the police investigation.
Baccha Passi alias Nihal Kumar: A sharp shooter of Chhota Rajan gang. Passi has 24 criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, loot, robbery, extortion, dacoity and cases under Gangster Act and Arms Act registered against him.
Out on bail, Pasi along with his three aides was once arrested and booked in a case of contract killing when he had travelled to Mumbai to bump off a businessman at the instance of Chhota Rajan in 2006. Interestingly, despite booking him under the Arms Act, the police failed to produce the arms involved in the case and thus the court granted him bail.
The latest case against Passi is related to the murder of Sachin Sonkar in 2019. Despite the manhunt, Passi dodged the Prayagraj police and surrendered in court. He is out on bail.
Dilip Mishra: The former block head faces 46 cases of heinous crimes. He is an accused in an attempt-to-murder case wherein he had attacked the present state minister of civil aviation Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi. He was booked under UP Gangster Act in 2008.
In May, this year, he was arrested and lodged in Naini jail in Prayagraj for sheltering a wanted criminal.
In Mishra’s case, the police failed to bring witnesses on record giving him the benefit of the doubt. He is out on bail.