Allahabad HC rejects 6th bail plea of SI in Bikru massacre case

Prayagraj, Aug 14 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has rejected the sixth bail application of a sub-inspector and police outpost in-charge in the Bikru massacre case.

Krishna Kumar Sharma, the accused, had allegedly informed the main accused, gangster Vikas Dubey, about the ensuing police raid against him, and had relations with the gangster.

As a result of an ambush by Dubey, eight police personnel were killed in the incident on July 3, 2020.

Dubey was killed on July 10, 2020, when he tried to escape from custody after a police vehicle bringing him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident.

A criminal case was registered against the applicant and then SHO of Chaubepur police station, Vinay Kumar Tiwari, alleging conspiracy on his part.

Earlier, the fifth bail application of Sharma was rejected by the high Court on May 12. The court granted him the liberty to file a fresh bail application after a reasonable time before it or a trial court.

However, the sixth bail application was filed by the applicant on July 8, i.e., within a short period of two months mainly on the ground that one of the co-accused, Tiwari, whose first bail application was also rejected along with the applicant's first bail plea, was recently granted bail vide an order dated June 16, mainly on the ground of long incarceration.

Sharma's counsel submitted that the applicant was newly recruited in the police department and was involved in the massacre case only within 2-3 weeks of his service, adding that he has been in jail for the last about five years.

On the other hand, the additional government advocate submitted that the sixth bail application was filed within a short period of two months after the rejection of fifth bail plea, and there is no new ground to consider the present application.

Rejecting the bail plea, Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery said, "The applicant has approached this court within a period of two months after his fifth bail application was rejected, which is not a reasonable period since while rejecting the fifth bail plea, this court granted liberty to the applicant to approach this court after a reasonable period of time." "A subsequent event that a co-accused, Vinay Kumar Tiwari, has recently been granted bail cannot be considered at this stage since the applicant has rushed this court within a short period after his fifth bail application was rejected", Justice Shamshery said.

However, the court in its order dated August 11 directed that the applicant can approach the court at least after a period of six months along with the status of the trial. PTI COR RAJ ARI