The Bombay High court has expressed resent over the way state investigating agencies handled the murder of Anil Bheda, a witness to the abduction of Ramnarayan Gupta who was killed in an encounter in 2006.
“It is a matter of shame, that more than a decade has lapsed, but there is no progress in the case. It is extremely unfortunate that a prime eyewitness in this case, Anil Bheda, lost his life before his evidence could be recorded and till date, the perpetrators of Anil Bheda, have not been booked and are obviously looming large,” the division bench of Revati Dere and Gauri Godse observed while holding encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and 13 other accused guilty in the 2006 Lakhan Bhaiyya encounter case.
Bheda's murder
On March 12, 2011, Bheda, the sole witness, went missing from his house in Navi Mumbai; he was supposed to be deposed in court on March 16. The high court in its verdict noted, “Bheda, a prime and a star witness in the said case, a witness to the abduction, Gupta, was abducted and murdered on March 13, 2011, in the most gruesome manner, within three-four days, after charge was to be framed in the case, ie on March 8, 2011, before his deposition scheduled on March 16, 2011.
HC Slams investigation agency
Anil Bheda’s dead body was found burnt and only on the basis of DNA, his dead body was identified.”It was further noted that Bheda’s abduction and murder was being investigated by the state CID. It appeared from the said report that there was absolutely no progress in the said case.
The bench, hoping that the agency would continue with its investigation and take the same to its logical end, said, “It is a travesty of justice, for the family, who have lost a near and dear one.
The police whose duty it is to uphold the law, and to find the perpetrators of the crime, have hardly taken any pains to trace the perpetrators. It is important for police to investigate and to take the case to its logical end, lest people loose faith in the system.”
