Hang fake encounter cops: SC

New Delhi: Calling fake encounter killings as nothing but “cold blooded brutal murder”, the Supreme Court said police personnel involved in such incidents should be awarded death sentence and hanged. A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and C K Prasad said fake encounter killings should be treated as the rarest of rare offence. The court said as custodians of law policemen are expected to protect people. “They (police personnel involved in fake encounters) should be hanged,” Justice Katju, heading the bench, said. The court made these observations while directing the surrender of two senior Rajasthan IPS officers (Additional DGP Arvind Jain and SP Arshad) allegedly involved in the fake encounter killing of an alleged gangster (Dara Singh) by the Special Operations Group of Rajasthan Police on October 23, 2006. The bench said if the accused police officers fail to surrender they shall be arrested by the CBI which is investigating the case.