A Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ghaziabad on Wednesday sentenced four Uttar Pradesh police officials to life imprisonment in connection with the 1996 Ghaziabad fake encounter case. Bhojpur Station House Officer Lal Singh (above centre), Sub-Inspector Joginder Singh, and two constables – Subhash Chand, Surya Bhan – were held guilty of murder, providing false evidence and destroying evidence by the CBI court on Monday, reported The Indian Express. Another convict in the case constable Ranbir Singh had died during the course of the trial.

The victims – Jasveer (23), Jalaluddin (20), Ashok (17) and Parvesh (17) – were labourers who were sitting at a tea stall near Machri chowk in Bhojpur on November 8, 1996, when a police jeep was passing by the area. The convicted police officials had claimed that the four men opened fire at them and were killed in retaliatory firing, reported the Hindustan Times. The officers had used revolvers, pistols rifles, and AK-47s among other ammunition.

The CBI, who took over the investigation on 1997, revealed that Jasveer was taken inside the Bhojpur police station under some pretext and was assaulted. Ashok, Jalaluddin and Parvesh rushed in too when they came to know about it. “Later they were brought to Machri roundabout where they were shot dead in cold blood,” public prosecutor Rajan Dahiya told The Times of India. Their bodies had been cremated by the police officials declaring it unclaimed, Dahiya added.

A bullet recovered from the body of Jasbir was allegedly fired from the official revolver of then IPS officer Jyoti Belur, the CBI investigation had revealed. Belur had left the country and moved to the United Kingdom shortly after the incident. It is uncertain whether the bullet was fired by her or not. Belur was summoned by the court in 2007, however, she has failed to make a personal appearance in the case as of yet. Dahiya said she had acquired citizenship in the UK.