New Delhi, November 20: Four out of 16 jawans of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (UPPAC) who were convicted in Hashimpura Mass murder case surrendered before Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Thursday. The jawans will be sent to Tihar jail. Meanwhile, the Court issued a non-bailable warrant against rest of the jawans. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had given time to convicts till today to surrender. On October 31, the court overturned a trial courts verdict to acquit the jawans. A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel convicted 16 former policemen for killing 42 people of the minority community in 1987 and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

There were 19 accused in the case, out of which three died during the trial. The constables were convicted for murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence under Indian Penal Code (IPC). Earlier, in 2015, the trial court had acquitted the UPPAC jawans. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) filed a plea in the Delhi High Court challenging the decision. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy also demanded a further probe into the matter.  In 2016, the Court also tagged Swamy's plea with other petitions in the matter.

In 1987, the 19 jawans rounded up 42 youths from the Hashimpura in Meerut, and took them to the outskirts of the city and shot them with 303 service rifles. Their bodies were disposed of in a canal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 22, 2018 05:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).