Mohammad Shareef, aged 52, was shot dead on Tuesday in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. He had been released from jail about a year earlier. His release followed his acquittal by the Allahabad High Court in the 2008 terror attack on a CRPF camp. That attack had claimed eight lives.

Shareef was killed less than 200 metres from Khajuria Police Station. He had been summoned to the station for verification at around 4 pm. He left the station sometime after 6 pm. He was shot at around 6.30 pm.

The shooting took place near Panwaria village. Shareef was riding pillion on a motorbike behind his son. His son has been identified in later reports as Abu Wais Khan, aged 21. Two masked assailants on another motorbike approached them.

They opened fire and then fled the spot. Anurag Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police, Rampur, described the sequence. “He left the police station sometime after 6 pm and was shot around 6.30 pm, some 200 metres away from the police station,” he said.

He added: “Two bike-borne masked assailants came and opened fire at Shareef near Panwaria village. Shareef was riding pillion on another bike behind his son when these men approached them, opened fire and then fled the spot.”

Shareef’s son escaped unhurt. Residents of the village first alerted the police. The police took Shareef to a hospital. Doctors there declared him dead.

Two bullet wounds were visible on his body. “The picture will become clear after the post-mortem examination,” the officer said. The police said they were recording statements from family members. They wanted to determine whether there had been any recent threat or dispute involving Shareef.

Since his release, Shareef had been living with his family. He had been farming his land at Badanpuri village. He had walked out of Bareilly Central Jail in November 2025. He had spent nearly 18 years in custody before that release. The Uttar Pradesh government later challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court. That challenge was still relevant at the time of his death.

The police were also verifying a later claim of responsibility. A Facebook post, in the name of a man identifying himself as Rahul Singh, claimed responsibility for the killing. The police had not confirmed the authenticity of that claim.

Shareef had been arrested in connection with the attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur. The attack took place on the intervening night between 31 December 2007 and 1 January 2008. Seven CRPF personnel and a rickshaw-puller were killed. Five others were injured.

The attackers were described at the time as heavily armed. They were suspected to belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba. The police arrested Shareef along with Jung Bahadur from Moradabad. They also arrested Kausar from Pratapgarh. Khan from Bareilly was arrested too. Sabauddin from Bihar was also arrested. 

Two Pakistani nationals, Shahzad and Farooq, were also arrested in the case. The police said they had recovered AK-47 rifles from the accused. They also said they had recovered magazines, grenades and other items.

In November 2019, a court in Rampur delivered its verdict. It awarded the death sentence to Shareef, Sabauddin and the two Pakistani nationals, Imran Shahzad and Mohammad Farooq. Jung Bahadur was sentenced to life in prison. Gulab Khan and Mohammad Kausar were acquitted.

They were acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence. On 29 October 2025, the Allahabad High Court set aside those sentences. The bench comprised Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra.

It set aside the death penalty for the four men. It also set aside the life imprisonment for the fifth man. The court cited defects in the investigation. It said those defects struck at “the root of the case”. It mainly cited gaps related to eyewitness accounts. It also cited gaps in the safekeeping of evidence.

The court acquitted the men of murder and terror charges. It did not, however, acquit them entirely. It sentenced the five men to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment. That sentence was under Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959. It related mainly to possession.

It imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on each man. The high court ruled that time already served would count towards the sentence. It said the “period of imprisonment undergone by the appellants will be adjusted towards… sentence awarded to the appellants.

Because Shareef had already spent far longer in jail, he was released. His death has now reopened questions about his safety after acquittal. It has also raised questions about security so close to a police station. The police said their investigation was continuing.

Agencies