Agra: A UP court Thursday convicted a suspended police sub-inspector and another accused in for the custodial death of Raju Gupta at Sikandra police station in 2018, bringing an eight-year-long trial to a close. Additional District Judge Nitin Kumar Thakur of the Agra court delivered the verdict, sharply criticising the manner in which the case was investigated.
The case, which triggered widespread public outrage at the time, centred on the alleged torture and death of a 30-year-old man in police custody and raised serious questions about accountability within the police force, the conduct of investigations, and systemic failures that allowed custodial violence to go unchecked.
The court found sub-inspector Anuj Sirohi guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and assault, sentencing him to 10 years’ imprisonment. Co-accused Anshul Pratap Singh was awarded seven years in prison for voluntarily causing injuries. Both were also fined ₹10,000 each. A third accused, Vivek Kumar, also accused of causing injuries to Raju Gupta, was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The court, however, noted that the question of culpability extends beyond the convicted individuals. “…the concerned police has indicted a single police person i.e. the accused Anuj Sirohi. Which itself is sufficient to hold here that the IOs (Chaman Singh Chawada and police inspector Rajesh Kumar Pandey) of this case have deliberately kept the truth aside and further deliberately conducted the investigation in such a manner that all the police person liable for the aforesaid incident were not even touched.”
In a parallel investigation before the National Human Rights Commission, the Agra CID has named 17 police personnel who were posted at Sikandra police station at the time of the incident.
The Agra CID has held all personnel present during the incident liable for offences including culpable homicide and illegal detention. The list of accused includes senior officers and multiple sub-inspectors, among others. The charge sheet has been sent to the state government seeking sanction for prosecution.
According to police records, Raju Gupta, a resident of Narendra Enclave in Agra, was picked up from his home on 21 November 2018, on suspicion of stealing jewellery from the house of Anshul Pratap Singh. He was allegedly detained without a formal complaint and subjected to severe physical assault inside the police station. His mother, Renu Gupta, was also detained, and he was stripped and assaulted in her presence.
The next day, Raju’s condition deteriorated, and he was taken by the police to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
The incident sparked widespread outrage, and a postmortem conducted by a panel of doctors found multiple injuries on Gupta’s body. Renu Gupta subsequently filed a complaint accusing Sirohi, Singh, Vivek Kumar and several unidentified police personnel of murdering her son. But she herself could not get over the trauma and died six months later.
Sirohi went missing after the case was registered and later surrendered in court on 4 January 2019, following public pressure and the announcement of a Rs 20,000 reward for information on him. He was later granted bail and posted to the traffic police before being suspended for prolonged absence from duty.
The investigation, initially assigned to Inspector Rajesh Kumar Pandey, was later transferred to circle officer Chaman Singh Chavda amid criticism over delays and alleged lapses. A chargesheet was filed on 7 February 2019, in which the charge of murder was reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and assault.
During the trial, 11 witnesses were examined, including local residents and medical professionals. Some witnesses later turned hostile.
In its 82-page judgment, the court observed that Gupta was an innocent individual who was tortured to death inside the police station, while other personnel present failed to intervene. It held that the investigation was conducted in a “lax” manner, suggesting a lack of intent among officers to uncover the truth.
The court further criticised the investigating officers, stating they demonstrated poor understanding of constitutional principles and evidentiary law. It noted that despite Sirohi admitting to assaulting Gupta in his statement, investigators failed to draw appropriate conclusions, thereby obstructing justice.
The court has directed that copies of the judgment be sent to the Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary and the Agra Police Commissioner, with instructions to initiate disciplinary action against the personnel involved in accordance with service rules.
(Edited By Viny Mishra)