Life term for three in double murder case

The court of Additional Sessions Judge, Anjana, has pronounced sentence on three convicts in a five- year-old case of double murder of advocates on Diwali eve in the year 2020.

On November 22, 2020, Sumanendra Gupta, son of advocate Bhagwant Kishore Gupta, a resident of Model Town, had lodged a complaint with the police. He had said that on the night of Diwali on November 13, his father advocate Bhagwant Kishore Gupta and his assistant, advocate Siya alias Geetu, were killed by her husband Ashish Kushwaha. He had said that the accused had taken the bodies to Purhiran bypass in a car and set it ablaze by hitting the car against a tree to make it look like an accident. The SSP said that the complainant had expressed the apprehension that it was not an accident but Siya Khullar’s husband Ashish Kushwaha, his associates Sunil Kumar and Kapil Kumar, had called their other accomplices from village Mangalor in Bulandshahar district of Uttar Pradesh to kill his father and Siya Khullar.

After the above complaint, the police had registered a case under Section 302, 201, 120B and 404 of the IPC on November 22, 2020 at the Model Town police station against the four accused — Rahul Kumar alias Kapil Kumar (38), a resident of village Manglor under Salempur police station in Buland Shehar district of UP, Ashish Kushwaha alias Ashish Kumar alias Ashish Singh, aged 38 years, also a resident of village Manglor, Sunil Kumar, aged 35 years, again a resident of Manglor, and Mona Bharti, wife of Ashish Kushwaha (who is proclaimed offender since October 25, 2021).

Nitin Berry, Additional Public Prosecuter and Varun Sharma, advocate for the complainant, said that after listening to the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, the court decided that the offence committed by the convicts was most serious and grave, resulting in the loss of human life. Taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case and also the antecedents of the convicts including their age, it was not found to be a ‘rarest of the rare’ case, warranting the awarding of capital punishment. Therefore, all the three convicts, namely, Rahul Kumar alias Kapil Kumar, Ashish Kushwaha alias Ashish Kumar and Sunil Kumar, were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs10,000 each. In default of payment of fine, they will undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period that is commensurate with the provisions of law.