Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has commuted the death sentences of four men and the life term of another in the 2008 Rampur CRPF camp attack, citing serious defects in the police investigation.
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Verma and Ram Manohar Narain Mishra acquitted five men — Mohd. Sharif, Sabauddin, Imran Shahjad, Mohd. Farooq, and Jang Bahadur Khan — of charges related to murder and terrorism. They were previously convicted for the pre-dawn attack on January 1, 2008, which killed seven CRPF personnel and a rickshaw-puller and injured eight others, including three constables.
The court ruled that flaws in the investigation “went to the root of the case” and rendered the prosecution’s evidence unreliable. It noted that no test identification parade was conducted, and the prosecution witnesses had not known the accused before. Despite this, they were later shown to identify the men as the culprits, a contradiction the court said weakened the prosecution’s case.
The judges observed that the police failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, which is fundamental to criminal law. The court also remarked that if the investigation had been handled by trained officers, the outcome might have been different.
While acquitting the men of murder charges, the court held them guilty under Section 25 (1-A) of the Arms Act for possession of prohibited weapons. Each has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹1 lakh.
The ruling has reignited discussions on the need for professional police training and stronger accountability in terror-related investigations.
