Almost two and half years after the sensational abduction and murder of minor twin brothers in Chitrakoot town in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna, a court here on Monday sentenced five of those involved in the crime to life imprisonment.
A total of six people had been charged with abduction and murder of the six-year-old brothers, Priyansh and Shreyansh, in 2012. One of the accused had committed suicide in jail.
On February 12, 2019, twin sons of oil trader Brajesh Rawat were abducted from Chitrakoot. The abductors had demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore and after the trader paid Rs 20 lakh, the captors did not return the kids who were later found dead in the river Yamuna on February 24, 2019.
The barbaric murder of the minor kids had the temple town Chitrakoot on the boil as the public had taken to roads against the heinous crime. The matter had even resonated in the MP Assembly.
After a search, the police had taken into custody Raju Dwivedi, Padmakant Shukla, Lucky Tomar, Vikramjeet Singh, Bunta and Ramkesh Yadav. Padmkanat, Lucky and Raju were charged with murder while Vikramjeet and Bunta were accused of hiding evidence.
Ramkesh Yadav, the sixth accused had died by suicide inside the jail later. The police had submitted a 2,500-page charge sheet in the matter.
The case had taken a political turn after the police had linked the accused with some Hindutva outfits.
On Monday, the court held Padmkant Shukla, Lucky Tomar and Raju Dwivedi guilty of murder while Vikramjeet Singh and Apruva Yadav alias Bunta was held guilty of abduction and destroying evidence. The first was punished under sections 302, 364A and 328 and others under 120B and 364A and 328 of the IPC.
Brajesh Rawat, the kids’ father was present in the courtroom as the verdict was pronounced and he immediately broke down. Later speaking to the media, Rawat said that he was seeking the death penalty for the accused and added that he will continue to appeal in higher courts till his last breath.
(With inputs from Shivendra Baghel)
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Source: News18