By IANS,
Lucknow : The prosecution lawyer in a fake shootout case in which 13 policemen were this week sentenced to life for killing two innocent men Friday sought protection saying that he and his family were being threatened with death.
“The culprit cops through their aides are threatening me… They are saying I would be eliminated along with my family members very soon,” Vikas Shakya told reporters in Sonbhadra, about 250 km from here.
“Acting on the directions of the culprit cops, their aides, including some policemen, recently targeted my family after barging inside my home… The attacks and threatening calls have left us traumatised,” he added.
Shakya has also faxed a letter to Chief Minister Mayawati and Director General of Police Karamveer Singh.
Jharkhand residents Prabhat Kumar Srivastava and Rama Shankar Sahu, who were on their way to meet relatives, were branded as criminals and killed in September 2003 when they got off at the Sonbhadra railway station.
“Both had alighted at Sonbhadra railway station, where policemen from the Pipri police station picked them up, branded them criminals and later killed them,” Shakya said.
In 2006, a case was registered against 16 policemen — four sub-inspectors and 12 constables. Of these, two never turned up for trial and were declared absconders.
Additional Sessions Judge A.K. Dwivedi had sentenced five to life imprisonment Jan 4, and another eight were sentenced the next day. “While two policemen never turned up for trial and are still absconding, another did not surrender before the court Tuesday,” said Shakya.