Thaindian News

Jaipur, July 25 (IANS) Four policemen accused of killing criminal Dara Singh in a staged shoot-out in Rajasthan surrendered before a court here Monday.

The accused policemen had been declared proclaimed absconders by the court since they evaded arrest in teh Oct 23, 2006, killing. They were taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation and sent to judicial custody.

The Supreme Court in January this year handed over the enquiry to the CBI.

Advocate for some of the accused policemen, A.K. Jain, told IANS said that the four policemen - Inspector Subhash Godara, constables Jagraj and Bardi Prasad, and driver Sardar Singh - were in the 11-member team of Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) which gunned down Singh on the outskirt of Jaipur Oct 23, 2006.

“They surrendered before the special CBI court here today (Monday),” said Jain.

Additional Director General of Police A.K. Jain is among the two Indian Police Service officers who are accused in the case. While Inspector General A.Ponnuchami has been arrested, Jain is missing and has been declared an absconder.

Apart from Ponnuchami, the CBI has already arrested five other policemen - Inspectors Nisar Khan and Naresh Sharma, Sub-Inspector Satyanarayan Godara, Sub-Inspector Munshi Lal and Assistant Sub-Inspector Surendra Singh in the case. Three other policemen - Rajesh Chaudhary, Zulfikar and Arvind are still on the run.

According to police sources, the CBI is trying to prove that Singh’s killing was a fallout of rivalry between two gangs of liquor mafia, one of which had the patronage of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajendra Singh Rathore.

The politician’s name also figured in the charge sheet filed in the court by the CBI as a key conspirator, but he was not made an accused on account of pending investigation against him.