The Hindu : New Delhi News : Prosecution points to ‘chain of events’ in Katara case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 07, 2007
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

Prosecution points to ‘chain of events’ in Katara case

Arguments wrapped up in the five-year-old sensational case

The final arguments spread over in 25 hearings
Prime accused are Vikas and Vishal Yadav

New Delhi: The prosecution on Thursday wrapped up the final arguments in the five-year-old Nitish Katara murder case with the claim that the “chain of events” conclusively established the complicity of accused Vikas and Vishal Yadav.

Special public prosecutor B S Joon, who had been advancing final arguments for last 25 hearings before Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur, said “the chain of events in the case, which is based on circumstantial evidence, were linked together and they were conclusively linked to the accused.”

Concluding arguments in the high-profile case which involved Vikas, son of controversial Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, and his cousin Vishal as accused, Mr. Joon said the accused had the motive to kill Katara as they did not approve of his intimate relationship with their sister Bharti Yadav.

The accused, on the intervening night of February 16/17, 2002, abducted and killed Katara who had gone to attended a marriage function of their common friend Shivani Gaur at Diamond Palace in Ghaziabad, the prosecution alleged.

They had an altercation with the victim at the party, he said, adding that two constables, who were present there, and key witness Ajay Katara had seen Katara in the company of the accused.

Citing a Supreme Court judgement, Mr. Joon said if there was a time gap between the occurrence of an offence and the time when the victim was last seen in the company of the accused, the presumption goes against the accused.

“In this case, Katara was last seen alive around 1 a.m. with the accused and after eight hours, his body was recovered near Khurja in U.P. This fact goes against them and the presumption is that it was they who killed the victim,” he added.

“The fact that the accused went into hiding after the incident and were not traceable at the available addresses also goes against them,” he said.

The prosecutor had also referred to the DNA reports and claimed that these conclusively proved the victim’s identity.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi