Noting that allegations linking Lawrence Bishnoi to the crime were based only on “hearsay statements and suspicion, not concrete evidence”, the Chandigarh court has acquitted him in murder of a local property dealer.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO
The Court of Ashwani Kumar, Additional District and Sessions Judge, acquitted Bishnoi, and four others — Deepak Ranga, Abhishek alias Bunty, Raju Basodi and Dharminder on February 18.
The court, however, convicted and sentenced life imprisonment in the case to three accused —- Shubham, Manjit and Rajan, alias Jaat — under Section 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC. Shubham and Manjit were also held guilty under Arms Act.
The murder took place on September 28, 2019, when assailants allegedly entered property dealer Rajveer, alias Sonu Shah, office and fired multiple shots, hitting him in the head and body. He was rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where doctors declared him dead. Police registered the case on the complaint of his brother and launched an investigation that led to multiple arrests. The FIR was registered later on the complaint of Parveen Kumar, brother of Sonu Shah.
Parveen’s statement before the court said: “Prior to the incident his brother had told him that he had an altercation with Sampat Nehra and was scared that Nehra and Bishnoi would kill him. The gang of Nehra and Bishnoi had hired the accused Manjit, Rajan and Shubham… to kill his brother”.
During the trial, the defence counsel of Bishnoi got the statements of DSP of Sabarmati Jail, Gujrat, Jignesh Chawla, who testified that Bishnoi had been lodged there since August 28, 2023, after being transferred from Bathinda Jail, and the time of lodging, he was thoroughly searched and no communication device was found available with him.
Bishnoi, during his statement via video conferencing under Section 315 CrPC, also claimed that he had been falsely implicated. He stated that he has been confined in Sabarmati Jail since August 28, 2023, and had been in prison for the last more than 12 years. During this period, he said that he neither remained out of jail nor made any communication to any private person or any of the accused in the case.
Story continues below this ad
“I have been involved in many false cases by the government because I have highlighted the blackbuck case of Salman Khan. All the cases have been instituted when I was behind the bar, I had told all these facts to police when I was taken on police remand,” Bishnoi told the court during the trial.
The prosecution, however, submitted that Parveen was told by Sonu Shah that the accused had earlier threatened him.
The defence counsel, meanwhile, argued that the complainant has implicated Nehra and Bishnoi group in the commission of the offence, however, he only casted suspicion and no connecting evidence has been collected by the police.
The court in the 70-page judgement released on Saturday noted that the witness identified accused Manjit, Rajan and Shubham, who fired gun shot injuries on Sonu Shah.
Story continues below this ad
“The testimony of Parveen Kumar is truthful to the extent that he implicated accused Shubham, Rajan and Manjit in giving firearm injuries to his brother and it cannot be said that he has been introduced later on,” the judgment noted.
The court also held that no evidence has been collected that can substantiate the prosecution story that Bishoni had hatched a conspiracy to commit the murder of Sonu Shah by giving instructions telephonically.
“The statement of complainant Parveen Kumar regarding involvement of Bishnoi and Nehra is hearsay evidence as Sonu Shah had told him about his suspicion. Bishnoi was arrested by Inspector Ranjit Singh and during search no mobile phone was recovered from him. The inspector has stated that no connection was established between Bishnoi, Rajan Jaat and Raju Basodi in the present case either through mobile phone or otherwise. Inspector Satwinder Singh has stated that the accused Bishnoi was in jail at the time of incident,” the order further stated.
The court also noted that Bishnoi has been examined by the DSP in Sabarmati Jail, who has specifically stated that the former never used any communication device during his jail tenure.
Story continues below this ad
“In the absence of any evidence, it cannot be said that the accused had telephonic conversation with each other particularly when no evidence has been collected that the accused had used any communication device while lodged in jail. Thus, the prosecution has failed to bring home the guilt of Bishnoi beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt,” the court said, while acquitting him.
