Dead men tell no tales but this one does. Ram Pal Saroj, a Congress activist facing trial on the change of butchering over 200 Sikhs during the November 1984 riots in the Capital, along with Kishori Lal Thikedar, was reported to have died recently. The prosecution, however, believes that Saroj has fled to Nepal after faking his death. And tied by the aevelopined Additional District and Sessions Judge S.N. Dhingra has sought the assistance of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to establish the truth. Mystery surrounds the recovery of his body by the police at the New Delhi railway station from a compartment of Neelanchal Express on July 30, on a tipoff. A post mortem report (no. 2/37, dated July 26, civil hospital mortuary) was duly prepared for judge Dhinera. There was just one snag: in the photograph of the body submitted before the sessions judge, only the hips were visible!
The report did not identify the corpse. It is now being alleged that in order to cover up Saroj’s tracks, the police later mentioned his and his father’s name in the viscera report. Another report submitted by the Fingerprinting Bureau on July 31, had also failed to mention the name of the deceased. Senior public prosecutor A.K.Tandon says that though Saroj’s relative’s didi dentify the body, “we suspect this is an eyewash. The photograph placed before the court only adds to the mystery. I do not feel that this lapse should be passed off asamere faux pas.” Just two days back, on July 24, Dhingra had issued arrest warrants for Saroj after he failed to appear in the court despite several summons, According to the charge sheet both Saroj and Kishor the latter was recently sentenced to death twice were leading a mob in Kalyan Puri on that fateful day.
Saroj had been charged with murder and rioting and twenty three cases were pending against him. The complaint against Saroj had been filed by Indro, wife of Surat Singh, a resident of Kalyanpuri who was killed on November2, 1984. A report sub mitted by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Riot Cell, Rajiv Ranjan, in Dhingra’s court dated August 5, 1996 reveals that a number of bail able warrants and attachment warrants were issued against Saroj between June 20 and 30, but the cell failed to trace him. “It appears that he is willfully absconding,” the report stated. Officers of the cell who visited the morgue claimed that the body was bloated and disfigured be yond recognition. However the inquest form showed the body of Ram Pal Saroj’s. It had been identified by the brother and another relative of the deceased: Saroj had made his last appearance in Dhingra’s court on June 7. After the police reported his death, Dhingra issued a notice on August 1, to the Special Riot Cell, asking it to confirm Saroj’s death and submit a report on August 5. The cell complied with his directive but failed to submit a photograph.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 25, 1996
