Sanjha Morcha

15 security men charged with Manipur killings, CBI tells SC

15 security men charged with Manipur killings, CBI tells SC

CBI director Alok Verma arrives at Supreme Court in connection Manipur fake encounter case, in New Delhi, on July 30, 2018. PTI

Satya Prakash

Tribunew News Service

New Delhi, July 30

CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma on Monday told the SC that the agency had filed two chargesheets against 15 security personnel in connection with fake encounter killings and 14 of them had been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.Verma, who was summoned by the top court to explain the delay in implementing the court’s order, told a Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur that five more chargesheets/final reports would be filed by August-end.The Bench, which also included Justice UU Lalit, grilled him on various aspects of CBI Manual that provides for almost seven layers of scrutiny before a chargesheet is filed in a case. The agency had maintained that it was simply following its Manual and that was one of the major reasons of the delay.To cut short procedural delays, the Bench asked the CBI SIT to have only three-layered scrutiny before filing of final reports/chargesheets as the SIT chief himself was a Joint Director-rank officer.In view of serious allegations, petitioners demanded that the accused be arrested and subjected to custodial interrogation. However, the Bench left it to the discretion of the CBI Director to take the final call and posted the matter for further hearing on August 20. It asked Verma to remain personally present on the next date of hearing as well. Angry over non-compliance of its order to file chargesheets in seven cases relating to Manipur extra-judicial killings, the SC had on July 27 ordered the CBI Director to personally appear before it on Monday.