The policemen had shot dead 10 Sikh pilgrims in Pilibhit.

Highlights 10 Sikh pilgrims were told to get off a bus, shot in 'cold blood'

Police claimed the pilgrims were Khalistani terrorists and were armed

Fake encounter done to earn rewards, recognition: CBI probe

Forty-seven policemen have been sentenced to life in prison for shooting dead 10 Sikh pilgrims who they claimed were terrorists, 25 years ago.A trial court had on Friday held the policemen guilty of a "fake encounter."On July 12, 1991, the policemen stopped a luxury bus filled with Sikh pilgrims in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit and forced 10 passengers to get off. A charge-sheet said they were divided into groups, taken to different areas in a jungle and killed in cold blood.The policemen claimed the next day that 10 Khalistani terrorists had been killed. They claimed that some of the Sikhs in the bus had criminal cases and were armed.The CBI investigated the case on the orders of the Supreme Court and said that the motive behind the killings was to earn awards and recognition for killing "terrorists".Fifty-seven policemen were charged in the case, but 10 have died since.The incident took place in a part of Uttar Pradesh that had seen a surge in militant attacks at the time.