Kasganj violence: 28 get life term for youth’s murder

Twenty-eight men were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Lucknow for murdering a 22-year-old youth named Chandan Gupta seven years back in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh.

Gupta, a commerce student, was killed on January 26, 2018 during a Tiranga rally, organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other right-wing groups, as part of the Republic Day celebrations in Kasganj district.

When the rally, despite administrative restrictions, entered a minority dominated area at Baddunagar locality, it sparked communal clashes which ultimately resulted in the death of Gupta. It escalated the tension and multiple vehicles were torched in the reaction.

Initially, a case was registered by the UP Police in Kasganj. It was later transferred to the Etah district court and thereafter to NIA court, Lucknow, in 2022.

The special NIA court convicted 28 of the 30 accused under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder and attempt to murder, as well as the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act on Thursday. Two accused were acquitted.

The convicted were identified as Salim, Wasim, Nasim, Jahid ‘Jagga’, Asiq Qureshi ‘Hitler’, Aslam Qureshi, Akram, Taufeeq, Khillan, Shabab, Rahat, Salam, Mohsin, Asif Jimwala, Saquib, Bablu, Nishu, Wasif, Imran, Shamshad, Jafar, Sakir, Khalid Parvez, Faizan, Imran Qayyum, Sakir Siddiqui, Munazir Rafi and Amir Rafi.

Reacting over the development, the deceased's brother Vivek Gupta told mediapersons that he was "satisfied with the court's verdict" but will demand capital punishment for the prime accused who had shot his brother.