Mainpuri, July 28, 2025 – In a shocking case of mistaken identity, Rajveer Singh Yadav, a resident of Nagla Bhant in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, spent 17 years fighting to prove his innocence after being wrongfully jailed due to a police error. Intended for his brother Ramveer Singh, a clerical mistake in a 2008 FIR led to Rajveer’s arrest, 22 days in jail, and a grueling legal battle that turned his life upside down. On July 24, 2025, a Mainpuri court finally acquitted him, exposing a grave miscarriage of justice and sparking outrage over police negligence.
The ordeal began on August 31, 2008, when Inspector Omprakash, then stationed at Mainpuri’s Kotwali police station, filed an FIR under the Gangsters Act, targeting Ramveer Singh and others for alleged organized crime. Due to a typing error, Rajveer’s name was mistakenly recorded. Without proper verification, Sub-Inspector Shiv Sagar Dixit, the investigating officer, arrested Rajveer on December 1, 2008, and charged him with crimes linked to his brother’s criminal record. Rajveer, then a father of three daughters and a son, was dragged into a nightmare that cost him his livelihood, his children’s education, and his family’s stability.
“I kept telling them I’m not Ramveer, but no one listened,” Rajveer told a local news channel on July 27, 2025. “They took me to jail, and my family suffered for years.” Rajveer spent 22 days behind bars before securing bail, but the case haunted him for nearly two decades. His lawyer, Vinod Kumar Yadav, revealed that Rajveer attended nearly 300 court hearings, traveling from Mainpuri to Agra after the case was transferred in 2012. “The police didn’t even check the facts,” Yadav said. “Rajveer’s life was ruined because of one letter in a name.”
The court’s ruling on July 24, 2025, by Special Judge Swapn Deep Singhal, cleared Rajveer of all charges, slamming the police for “gross negligence.” The judge noted that the crimes listed in the chargesheet belonged to Ramveer, not Rajveer, and ordered action against the responsible officers. “A man’s life was destroyed because of a careless mistake,” the court stated, highlighting how Rajveer faced physical and mental trauma while fighting a false case.
The impact on Rajveer’s family was devastating. His son, Gaurav, had to drop out of school due to financial strain and now works as a farm laborer. Rajveer’s two daughters, one of whom is disabled, faced delays in their marriages as the family struggled under the weight of legal expenses and social stigma.
The case has reignited debates about accountability in Uttar Pradesh’s police system. As Mainpuri grapples with this injustice, the case serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of administrative errors.
