Jalandhar: Three sentenced to life imprisonment in double murder case

Jalandhar: The court of Additional Sessions Judge Anjana has sentenced three convicts in a five-year-old case of double murder of advocates on the eve of Diwali in the year 2020. On November 22, 2020, Sumanendra Gupta, son of Model Town resident advocate Bhagwant Kishore Gupta, 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 murdered by her husband Ashish Kushwah. He had said that the accused took the bodies in the car to Purhiran bypass and set the car on fire by ramming it into a tree to make it look like an accident. The SSP said that the complainant had suspected that it was not an accident but Siya Khullar’s husband Ashish Kushwah, his companions Sunil Kumar and Kapil Kumar called their other companions from village Mangalore in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh and killed his father and Siya Khullar. Following the above complaint, the police had registered a case under sections 302, 201, 120B and 404 of the IPC against the four accused at Model Town police station on November 22, 2020. These include Rahul Kumar alias Kapil Kumar (38), resident of village Mangalore of Salempur police station in Bulandshahr district of UP, Ashish Kushwah alias Ashish Kumar alias Ashish Singh age 38 years, resident of village Mangalore, Sunil Kumar age 35 years, resident of Mangalore and Ashish Kushwah’s wife Mona Bharti (who is a proclaimed offender since October 25, 2021). Additional Public Prosecutor Nitin Beri and complainant’s advocate Varun Sharma said that after hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defense, the court ruled that the crime committed by the convicts was extremely serious and grave, due to which many people lost their lives. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the past history of the convicts including their age, it was not found to be a ‘rarest of the rare’ case for which death penalty is appropriate. Therefore, the three convicts, namely Rahul Kumar alias Kapil Kumar, Ashish Kushwaha alias Ashish Kumar and Sunil Kumar were sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each. In default of payment of fine, they will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period in accordance with the provisions of law.