CBI Court Convicts Seven Accused, Sentences Six In Raju Pal Murder Case
Lucknow, March 29 (TNA) The Trial Court of Special Judge for CBI Cases, Lucknow on Friday convicted seven in CBI case related to murder of Raju Pal, then sitting MLA of UP. The accused include Abid, Farhan Ahmad, Israr Ahmad, Javed, Gulhasan, Ranjeet Pal and Abdul Kavi were convicted u/s 120-B, 147, 148, 149, 307, 302 IPC. Accused Farhan Ahmad was additionally held guilty u/s 27 of the Indian Arms Act.
Six convicted accused who were present in the Court have been sentenced to life imprisonment along with combined/ total fine of Rs. 11.65 Lakh. During the argument on the quantum of punishment, accused Israr Ahmad remained absent, therefore, the Ld. Court issued NBW against him and quantum of sentence pertaining to him was deferred to the time of his presence before the Court.
CBI had registered the instant case on 08.04.2016 on the orders passed by Supreme Court on January 21, 2016 and had taken over the investigations of FIR No. 31/2005 earlier registered in Police Station Dhoomanganj, Allahabad (UP).
The directions of the Apex Court came in CA No. 77/2016 arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 1458/2015 filed by wife of the deceased seeking fair and expeditious trial. The Hon'ble Apex Court also directed CBI to conduct a De Novo investigation in the case and also directed that the trial court shall conclude trial expeditiously.
UP Police had registered the case against Ashraf and Atiq Ahmed and other unknown persons regarding murder of Raju Pal, the then sitting MLA of UP Legislative Assembly and his two associates Devi Din Pal and Sandeep Yadav on January 25, 2005 in PS Dhoomanganj area. It was alleged that on the said at around 3.00 PM when Raju Pal along with his associates was returning home, 7-8 persons had stopped his vehicle near Amit Deep Maruti Agency.
The Court framed the charges on October 20, 2022 against 9 accused. During trial, accused Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf expired hence trial against them was abated. After trial, the Court held accused guilty and sentenced them accordingly.
It was also alleged that accused Ashraf and others fired and killed the victim. It was also alleged that the murder was committed at the behest of Atiq Ahmed, then Member of Lok Sabha. UP Police had filed a Chargesheet in the case. Later on, the case was transferred to CB-CID, UP, which filed three Supplementary Chargesheets.
After conducting the De Novo investigation, CBI filed Chargesheet u/s 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 120-B of IPC against 10 accused- Khalid Azim @Ashraf, Atiq Ahmad, Ranjeet Pal, Abid, Farhan Ahmad, Israr Ahmad, Javed, Gulful @ Rafiq, Gulhasan and Abdul Kavi.
Accused Atiq Ahmad and Farhan Ahmad were also charge-sheeted under section 506 IPC and under section 27 Arms Act, respectively. During committal proceedings, accused Gulful@ Rafiq expired, therefore, his name was abated from the trial.