Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 7: Passing strictures against the Investigating Officer (IO), Additional Session’s Court Jammu today directed for further investigation in a murder case registered at Police Station Bishnah and asked SSP Jammu to file action taken report in the court.
Taking cognizance of the offence under section 302/201/109 RPC against three accused in FIR 1 of 2019 at Police Station Bishnah, the Addl Sessions Court Jammu, presided over by Tahir Khurshid Raina directed the prosecution for further investigation in the case with the aid of Section 173 (8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to complete the same within one month.
As per the case history, in the year 2017, dead body of a person namely Vinod Kumar of Laswara, tehsil Bishnah was found floating in a canal at Bishnah. In the postmortem , multiple lacerated injuries on the head and body were revealed and viscera was sent to FSL. However, FIR was not registered by the officer incharge of PS Bishnah and the same got registered only in the month of January 2019 . It again remained in oblivion for six months and then in July 2019 some investigation was started, during which three accused namely Sukhvinder Kumar of Ismailpur , Arun Khajuria of Ismailpur and Binni Kumar of Fatheypur Slarian were arrested . Accused Sukhvinder Kumar disclosed that he and deceased were doing illegal trade of Heroin and they had some dispute on account of which he killed the latter by attacking his head with screw driver. After the killing, he contacted other two accused on phone who brought a Van in which dead body was carried and thrown in the canal. The screw driver was recovered on the identification of the accused and van was also seized from the house of one of the co accused.
Finally, on the basis of recovered material and investigation, Sukhvinder was charge sheeted by police for commission of offences under section 302, 201 RPC and co accused under section 201,109 RPC i:e destruction of evidence.
While Taking cognizance of the delay and lapses in investigation, court observed that if multiple injuries on the head and body of the deceased were revealed in the postmortem, why FIR was not registered in the very first instance by officer incharge Bishnah and the same was delayed for more than one year for want of FSL report when cause of death was obvious .
“Why the statement of only material witness who has seen all the three accused carrying dead body in a Van was not recorded under section 164-A Crpc? As he was the only witness who has seen them last with the dead body and who as per his 161 statement was knowing main accused only, then why test identification parade was not conducted to connect all the three accused with the commission of offence of murder?” asked the judge.
Court further asked why CDR details have not been made part of charge sheet when they were the most clinching evidence to connect all the three accused with the conspiracy of commission of crime and why the registration documents of Van in which dead body of the deceased was taken for throwing in canal were not seized and made part of the charge sheet to connect the accused with the crime.
Court observed that all the officers incharge of PS Bishnah from the date of recovery of dead body till final submission of charge sheet have shown casual attitude to the case and took two years to complete an investigation in a murder case which finally culminated into a sham investigation. “If this is the standard of investigation being done in a murder case , time is not far when people will lose faith in the police and will take law into their own hands to avenge the criminality committed with them which can lead to anarchy,” further observed the court adding that such IOs must remember that though there is a symbolic band on the eyes of goddess of justice in the temple of justice, but judge is not blind who has to appreciate the prosecution material on the touchstone of law as right to life and liberty of the people is involved.
Taking serious note of perfunctory investigation done in this murder case , Court directed SSP Jammu to engage a new IO of impaccable integrity and competence for further investigation of the case, preferably by a SIT of senior officers . The SSP was further directed to enquire into the matter as to how such a long delay and lapse have taken place in the investigation of the murder case , fix the responsibility and submit action taken report against the errant officers matching with the gravity of the offence.
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