NEW DELHI: The Additional Sessions Court of Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan) on Friday sentenced 30 people, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mahender Singh Tanwar, to life term for burning alive a station house officer (SHO) in his vehicle during an incident of communal conflict in Sawai Madhopur in 2011.
The case pertains to the murder of Phool Mohammed Khan, the then SHO of Man Town Police Station in Sawai Madhopur who was burnt alive in June 2011. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which registered the case June 30, 2011, at the request of the Rajasthan government, Khan got injured during a communal riot in the area and took refuge in his official vehicle. A riotous mob surrounded and set the vehicle ablaze, trapping Khan inside it and burning him alive.
The local police registered a case at Man Town Police Station on March 17, 2011 against 21 accused and some other persons. The case was initially investigated by the CID but was later passed on to CBI which filed a supplementary charge sheet.
The CBI found that Tanwar had a personal grudge against Khan. He conspired with another accused of the area and instigated the protestors by speaking against the SHO. Also, on the day of the incident, he fled from the spot instead of taking control of the situation and also falsely informed the supervisory officers that he was controlling the situation at the place of occurrence.
Following the trial, the court convicted 30 accused out of the 79 facing trial and acquitted the other 49. All the convicted people were given life imprisonment and handed different fines, ranging between Rs 2000 and Rs 50,000, under different sections.