Mumbai, March 27 A court here on Friday acquitted five Haryana police personnel, including a then sub-inspector, and two others who were accused of the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sandeep Gadoli at a hotel in Mumbai in 2016.
Additional sessions judge Prashant Kale found the accused not guilty under sections 302 (murder) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Gadoli was killed in what was alleged to be a shootout by the Gurugram police at a hotel in Andheri East on February 7, 2016.
The "notorious" gangster was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh and was wanted in over 40 FIRs registered since 1999.
Police arrested eight people, including five police officers, Gadoli's "girlfriend," Divya Pahuja, her mother, and rival gang leader Virendra Gujjar, in connection with the killing.
The accused police officers included Pradyuman Yadav (then sub-inspector), Vikram Singh, Jitendra Yadav, Deepak Kakran, and Paramjeet Ahlawat.
According to police, Gadoli had been lured into a trap with the help of Pahuja and was killed in a fake encounter. The case against Pahuja was later dropped after her murder at a hotel in Haryana in 2024, when she was out on bail in the Gadoli case.
The prosecution alleged that Gujjar, who had a long-standing feud with Gadoli, had orchestrated the encounter at the hotel in Mumbai.
He, along with the accused police officers, hatched a conspiracy to kill Gadoli.
The prosecution claimed that the accused police officers shot him at a hotel in Andheri East using illegal firearms and provided false evidence to save themselves.
The prosecution presented the testimony of 43 witnesses and extensive technical evidence (CCTV, call records, and ballistics) to prove that the accused were involved in a coordinated conspiracy to commit murder.
However, the judge acquitted all the accused. The order was not made publicly available.
Advocates Vilas Naik and Vignesh Iyer, representing Pradyuman Yadav and Vikram Singh, argued that the allegations against them were "completely false and malicious."
They claimed that this was done under pressure from the Gadoli family, especially the deceased gangster's brothers and sister, who also have serious cases of extortion and murder, etc.