Shimla: Timeline of 4-year-old Yug Gupta murder case

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has commuted the death sentence of two convicts in the horrific 2014 Yug Gupta murder case to life imprisonment, stating that the material on record did not justify the imposition of the extreme penalty. A third accused was acquitted of all charges.

The special division bench, comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Rakesh Kainthla, observed that the state had failed to establish brutality beyond reasonable doubt, a necessary condition for the death penalty. The Court held that the accused could be reformed and hence did not fall under the "rarest of rare" category required for capital punishment.

Judgment:

Tejinder Pal Singh: Acquitted of all charges.

Chander Sharma & Vikrant Bakshi: Acquitted under Sections 347 and 364A of IPC, but sentenced to life imprisonment until natural death instead of death penalty.

The court rejected the state’s argument about the brutal killing of the 4-year-old, noting the lack of concrete evidence regarding what transpired between the boy’s disappearance and the discovery of his remains. The case relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and the "last seen together" theory.

Background:

Yug Gupta, a 4-year-old child from Shimla, was abducted on June 14, 2014, from Ram Bazaar and later killed. Despite ransom letters demanding Rs 3.6 crore being received after the crime, investigations revealed that Yug had already been murdered a week after his abduction. His skeletal remains were discovered two years later in a water tank at Keleston.

In 2018, a Shimla Sessions Court had sentenced all three accused to death, prompting a mandatory confirmation review by the High Court.

Timeline

June 14, 2014:    4-year-old Yug Gupta abducted from Ram Bazaar, Shimla. Father files missing complaint the same day.

June 16, 2014: Police register a criminal case.

June 21, 2014: Yug is believed to have been murdered (before any ransom was demanded).

June 27, 2014: First ransom letter demanding Rs 3.6 crore received by Yug’s family.

July–August 2014: Three more ransom letters received.

August 14, 2014: Case transferred to Himachal Pradesh CID.

January 29, 2016:  MC employees find a skeleton in a water tank during cleaning but discard it, assuming it belonged to an animal.

Mid-2016: Skeleton confirmed to be that of Yug Gupta.

September 2018: Sessions Court, Shimla convicts all three accused — Chander Sharma, Tejinder Pal Singh, and Vikrant Bakshi — and awards death sentence.

September 23, 2025:  Himachal Pradesh High Court acquits Tejinder Pal Singh; commutes death sentence of Chander Sharma and Vikrant Bakshi to life imprisonment until natural death.