D P Yadav gets life term for murder of MLA

A CBI Special court on Tuesday sentenced UP politician and strongman D P Yadav and three others to life in prison for the 1992 murder of MLA Mahendra Singh Bhati. The court had held all the four persons — DP Yadav, Pal Singh, Karan Yadav and Pranit Bhati — guilty of the murder on February 28.

Pronouncing the quantum of punishment on Tuesday Special CBI Judge Amit Kumar Sirohi also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of them.

“D P Yadav, Karan Yadav and Pranit Bhati have been convicted under Sections 302 (Murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (causing grievous hurt) and 120-B (Criminal conspiracy) of the IPC in this case. Pal Singh has been convicted under Section 27 of the Arms Act as well as section 302, 307, 326 and 120-B of the IPC in this case,” Rupendra Bhandari, D P Yadav’s lawyer, said.

Yadav was absent from the court on medical grounds at the time of pronouncement of verdict on February 28 and he surrendered before the court on Monday.Yadav, along with three other convicts, were brought to the Dehradun court under tight security.

Bhandari said he will appeal against the judgment in the Uttarakhand High Court.

Mahendra Singh Bhati, who was the MLA from Dadri Assembly seat, and his close friend Udai Prakash Arya, were gunned down by armed assailants on September 13, 1992, at the Dadri railway crossing.The incident had shaken the political establishment in the state at that time.

The CBI took up investigation of the case in 1993 and submitted its chargesheet against eight in 1996. Four of the accused died during pendency of trial. The case was transferred to CBI Dehradun in 2000 on the direction of the Supreme Court after doubts were expressed about a fair trial in the case in Uttar Pradesh where Yadav is an influential politician.

Yadav’s son Vikas and another family-member Vishal are also in prison, serving a 30-year jail term for the highly-publicised murder of businessman Nitish Katara in 2002.

(With PTI inputs)

Source:: Indian Express