Tuesday, 24 September 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The court on Monday sentenced two accused of murder of a senior citizen 18 years after the crime was committed. The main accused, Mehmood Ali was sentenced to life imprisonment while Naeem Rahat, who aided Ali, was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment along with penalties, as per the court order. The court of the additional district and sessions judge (II) Mahesh Chandra Kaushiwa delivered this verdict in the murder case of Pushpendra Singh, who was reportedly killed by four painters for his property. The court found the painters involved in the conspiracy guilty of Duggal’s murder.
The third accused, Qutbuddin alias Sunny, had passed away a few years ago, leading to the closure of proceedings against him. The fourth accused, Tejpal, was acquitted due to a lack of solid evidence, as mentioned in the court order. The case dates back to January 2006, when Singh, a resident of Municipal Road in Dalanwala, went missing. His niece, Manjeet Chawla, initially filed a missing person report, which later turned out to be a murder case. During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused had plotted to seize Singh’s property.
The police found during investigation that the culprits reportedly took advantage of Singh being alone and conspired to kill him to take control of his assets. They murdered him and hid his body in a garage and later burnt it in a forest of Chandrabani. The accused even reportedly attempted to disguise the murder by suggesting that Singh had died in a train accident in Delhi. However, the police discovered his property documents in the possession of the accused, which led to their eventual arrest. The police presented a total of 19 witnesses in court in this case.
The court also expressed severe displeasure over the negligence shown by the police during the investigation of such a serious crime. The court directed that a copy of the judgment should be sent to the Uttarakhand director general of police Abhinav Kumar and Dehradun senior superintendent of police, Ajai Singh through the district magistrate so that necessary action is taken against the investigation officers responsible for the lapses.
