The Tribune, December 19, 1997

Tribune News Service KARNAL, Dec.18 - The Haryana Government has at last referred the Madhu Sharma murder case to the CBI. The much-talked about case, which drew a flak for the Karnal police, has been referred to the CBI by the Financial Commissioner and Secretary, Home Department, vide letter dated November 27, 1997. The handing over of the case to the CBI reflects the dismal failure of the Karnal police to apprehend the culprits.

According the FIR (1011/97 dated August 1, 1997) registered at city police station under Sections 459 and 460, IPC by Mr. G. D. Sharma, elder brother of MR. Vidya Dhar Sharma, SDO, PWD (B&R) - who was injured in the attack by armed people at his house in Urban Estate - it has been illeged that "armed intruders" entered the house on the night of July 31. When he went to the house the next morning he found that Madhu, wife of Mr. V. D. Sharma, and his younger son had been murdered. The entire house had been ransacked and Mr. V. D. Sharma and his elder son injured.

The crime was committed in a plush colony of Urban Estate. It is a thickly populated area and the police naka was hardly about 200 yards away from the house.

Almost all senior politicians of the state, including Mr. Bhajan Lal, Mr. O. P. Chautala (both former Chief Ministers), Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, HPCC chief, Mr I. D. Swamy and Mr. Chiranju Lal (both former MPs) and a host of other high dignitaries and public figures had condemned the murder in no uncertain terms.

Panicked over the public reaction, the Karnal police declared that the crime was committed by a gang of Bawarias. Later in August 9, the police arrested five accused - Rati Ram, Dharam pal, Chatter Ral, Kalu and Maurari. They were produced before the court in Karnal and they were reported to have confessed their crime. Their three other accomplices Puna, Shiv Dutt and Chatru (all members of the Bawaria gang), have not so far been arrested.

Many an eyebrow was raised on the police theory and claims. Doubts were raised on many counts that this was the handiwork of the Bawaria gang. The police has not been able to recover any booty from the arrested accused. No weapon of the crime used by them has been recovered. The police has failed to identify any tell-tale marks which should show that the crime had been committed by the Bawaria gang.

Another confounding aspect is that in the known history of Bawaria crime the gangs always enter a house through a back door and target only such houses which were located in isolated places. Here the gang members had entered the house from the front side which is located at a busy road adjacent to Government College, Karnal. This had lend little credence to the police theory.

Besides, during an all-out effort by the police to nab the culprits, it could not even identify the route adopted by the culprits in coming and escaping after committing the crime. This is a dismal failure on the part of the police that so far it has not been able to arrest the remaining three culprits. Even, according to some reports, the five accused arrested by the Karnal police were already in the custody of the Muzaffarnagar police.

These and other reasons led to the dissatisfaction of Dr. G. D. Sharma, a renowned physician and elder brother of the SDO, about the police action. Dr. Sharma clamored to get the case transferred to the CBI. The Chief Minister, Mr. Bansi Lal, was approached on a number of occasions to give justice to the affected family.

Interestingly, the police did not listen to the reasoning from those who wanted that the case should be inquired into from other angles also. The family of Dr. Sharma had been alleging that it was a case of cold-blooded murder and there could be a big conspiracy behind it. But the police did not look at this angle. As a result, the case has ultimately gone to the CBI which is expected to deliver justice to the aggrieved family.