After HC rap, U’khand forms SIT to probe Haldwani violence death

Dehradun: A day after Uttarakhand high court directed the state to form a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the death of a man killed by a bullet during the violence in Banphoolpura locality in Haldwani, the state govt on Thursday informed the court that the investigating officer had been transferred and an SIT had been constituted.Banphoolpura SHO Neeraj Bhakuni, who had been investigating the case, was moved to Pithoragarh and the SIT will be led by Nainital SP (traffic) Jagdish Chandra and include CO Haldwani Nitin Lohani and sub-inspector Pramod Pathak, govt's counsel said.A division bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mahra, while hearing the matter on Thursday, asked the SIT to submit monthly progress reports to the court. The bench had noted irregularities in the ongoing investigation, saying the same officer was both investigating and preparing the final report despite serious murder charges being involved. On June 18, the court had ordered that the death of Faheem be investigated by the SIT and that SHO Bhakuni be removed from the case.Violence erupted in Banphoolpura area on Feb 8, 2024, when authorities acted on a court-ordered demolition of an unauthorised madrasa and mosque built on govt land. The clashes led to at least six deaths, over 250 injuries and scores of arrests, with rioters attacking police and setting fire to vehicles and a police station.The court orders came in response to a petition filed by Parvez, a resident of Haldwani and Faheem's brother. He told the court that the chief judicial magistrate of Nainital, on May 6, 2024, had directed the police to file an FIR against unknown persons and investigate. However, there had been no progress since.Parvez said Faheem was killed on Feb 8 during the violence and the family had approached police and local officials seeking action. No FIR was filed, nor was any probe initiated. Eventually, they approached the CJM court in Nainital, which directed police to register the case and investigate, but this too was not followed. He claimed Faheem's death was not incidental to the violence, but that he had been deliberately shot by unidentified individuals.