AMN/ WEB DESK

The Bombay High Court has convicted former Mumbai police officer Pradeep Sharma in the 2006 fake encounter case and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Quashing the session court’s acquittal order, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse today opined that the trial court had overlooked overwhelming evidence, adding that the common chain of evidence proves Sharma’s involvement in the case. Terming the acquittal as “perverse” and “unsustainable”, the bench has directed Sharma to surrender before the concerned sessions court in three weeks. The court today upheld the conviction and life sentence imposed by the trial court on 13 other persons, including 12 policemen. The case dates back to 2006, when Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya, an alleged close aide of gangster Chhota Rajan was killed in a fake encounter.