3 cops get 7-yr jail for not following norms during encounter

A local court today sentenced three police personnel, including a sub-inspector, to seven years of imprisonment for not following procedural norms during an encounter which resulted in death of a youth.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on them after holding them guilty in the five-year-old Dhakla encounter case.
The police had booked SI Satbir Singh, head constable Ashok Kumar and constable Ashok on the basis of findings of an investigation carried out by the then Jhajjar SDM into the matter.
The SDM in his probe had found procedural lapse on part of the police while nabbing a criminal in Dhakla village.

The "controversial" encounter took place on October 12, 2008 when the police had gone to Dhakla village to raid a house after receiving a tip-off that a most-wanted criminal was hiding there.
As the Jhajjar police raided the house of former sarpanch Sombir, there was exchange of fire between the alleged criminals and the police team.

While Sombir's brother Jasbir sustained bullet injuries and died on the spot, a head constable and a constable also suffered bullet injuries in the "encounter".
Later, Sombir met the then Jhajjar SP along with other villagers and alleged that his brother was killed.
Thereafter, the inquiry of the incident was handed over to the then SDM Satyender Duhan who in his investigation report said police had not followed procedural norms while taking the extreme step of firing.

"The police should have given warning to the opposite party before opening fire but it failed to do so. This irresponsible act of the police turned out to be the leading cause behind the incident leaving a youth, Jasbir Singh, killed," the report had said.
The report also suggested if the police had handled the situation tactfully by adopting procedural norms, the "encounter" could have been averted.