CBI court orders criminal case against top police officers over Barmer's Prajapat 'encounter'

Jodhpur: In a significant development, the ACJM (CBI) court here has rejected the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) closure report in the controversial Kamlesh Prajapat encounter case and ordered criminal proceedings against senior police officials, including former Superintendents of Police Kaluram Rawat (Pali) and Anand Sharma (Barmer).

Magistrate Anubhav Tiwari, while hearing a protest petition filed by Prajapat's widow Jasoda, directed the CBI on April 16 to investigate the potential involvement of former revenue minister and Congressman Harish Choudhary, his brother Manish Choudhary and former IG (Jodhpur Range) Navjyoti Gogoi. The agency has been given two months to submit its findings.

The case relates to the death of Prajapat in an alleged encounter in Barmer on April 22, 2021, which sparked widespread protests with locals claiming it was a staged killing. The investigation, initially handled by the local police, was transferred to CID-CB and subsequently to the CBI following public outrage.

The lower court found significant discrepancies in the police's version of events. While authorities had labelled Prajapat a "dreaded drug smuggler," the court noted there were no prior NDPS Act cases against him. Questions were also raised about the authenticity of evidence, including a controversial seizure memo signed by tehsildar Prem Singh Choudhary, related to the former revenue minister's brother.

In its scathing order, the court stated, "A murder committed by the police without provocation, based on a conspiracy, cannot be considered an act carried out in official duty, especially when evidence has been tampered with and the investigation misled."

The CBI's closure report, submitted on May 31, 2021, had cited the unavailability of CCTV footage from Prajapat's residence due to tampering as a reason for its inability to establish the encounter as fake. However, the court found this explanation insufficient and observed that the police claims supporting the encounter appeared fabricated.

The case has now been reopened, with the court directing a thorough investigation into what appears to be a coordinated action between Pali and Barmer police departments that led to Prajapat's death. This development marks a crucial turning point in the case, potentially exposing serious misconduct within the state's law enforcement apparatus and political establishment.