CBI Court Rejects Closure Report in Anandpal Singh Encounter Case

A CBI court dismissed the closure report on gangster Anandpal Singh's alleged fake encounter in 2017, instructing to file murder charges against involved police officers. The ruling followed a petition from Singh's wife Raj Kanwar, challenging the CBI's clean chit to officers present during the encounter.

A CBI court on Wednesday overturned the central probe agency's closure report in the alleged fake encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh in 2017, ordering charges of murder and other offenses against the involved police officers.

The court's decision came in response to a petition from Singh's wife, Raj Kanwar, who contested the CBI's report that exonerated then Churu SP Rahul Barhat, DSP (Kuchaman City) Vidhya Prakash, Inspector Surya Veer Singh, and other officials.

Anandpal Singh was reportedly killed in an encounter in Churu's Malasar village on June 24, 2017. The police claimed Singh opened fire when asked to surrender, leading to the encounter. However, following community protests alleging foul play, the CBI took over the investigation and initially concluded the encounter was lawful, filing a closure report in August 2019.

(With inputs from agencies.)