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Shivani murder: Sharma, 3 others convicted

Staff Reporter

Telephonic conversations among accused given credence

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NINE YEARS AFTER: Shivani Bhatnagar murder accused R.K. Sharma being produced at the Karkardoma court in East Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: More than nine years after the Indian Express Principal Correspondent Shivani Bhatnagar was murdered in her house in East Delhi, a court here on Tuesday held suspended Indian Police Service officer and main accused, R.K. Sharma, guilty of criminal conspiracy and murder. Three other accused were also held guilty by the court, while two were acquitted.

Pronouncing the judgment in a packed room of a Karkardooma court, Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri said the prosecution had been able to prove the charges against R.K. Sharma, Shri Bhagwan, Pradeep and Satya Prakash beyond reasonable doubt. However, the court let off Ved Prakash Sharma and Ved alias Kalu on grounds of insufficient evidence.

The accused had been charged with criminal conspiracy along with murder and destruction of evidence. Pradeep was additionally charged with misappropriation.

The court has fixed Thursday for arguments on point of sentence following which the quantum of sentence would be announced.

In arriving at the verdict, the court lent credence to prosecution’s evidence of telephonic conversations between the main accused and the co-accused at crucial times.

The court also agreed with prosecution’s claim that though there was no eyewitness in the case, circumstantial evidence was sufficient to convict the guilty.

While convicting Pradeep, the court relied on the fact that the fingerprints lifted from the scene of crime matched his.

Also, the handwriting on the entry register at Navkunj Apartments, where Shivani lived with her journalist-husband Rakesh Bhatnagar, matched Pradeep’s. Pradeep had been charged with carrying out the killing.

In acquitting Ved Prakash and Ved alias Kalu, the court agreed with the defence plea that a person who is apprehending arrest was least likely to keep something in his possession that could link him to the murder.

According to the prosecution, Shivani’s gold chain, which was missing after the incident, was recovered from Ved Prakash.

The police recovered a camera, which too was missing from Shivani’s house after the incident, from Ved alias Kalu, the prosecution had alleged.

Further, the prosecution had alleged that R.K. Sharma decided to eliminate Shivani when she threatened to expose him.

The two had developed intimacy when Sharma was the Officer on Special Duty at the Prime Minister’s Office and during that period he had leaked certain classified documents pertaining to St. Kitts case to Shivani, who was then part of a Special Investigation Team of the newspaper.

The court refused to accept the prosecution’s claim as it could not prove that leaking of sensitive documents could have jeopardised Sharma’s career. It, however, agreed that Sharma decided to eliminate Shivani when she threatened to expose him about their intimacy.

In its charge-sheet, the prosecution said Pradeep reached Shivani’s house at Navkunj Apartments on January 23, 1999, and managed to gain access on the pretext of handing over a wedding card and a box of sweets. He then strangled and stabbed Shivani before fleeing.

The first arrest in the case was made only in July 2002, when police picked up Shri Bhagwan. Subsequently, the other accused were arrested.

R.K. Sharma, who was then the Inspector-General (Prisons) in Haryana, continued to avoid arrest for nearly 45 days before surrendering at an Ambala court after the Delhi High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. He was then brought to Delhi on transit remand.

To appeal

Talking to reporters after the verdict was announced, defence lawyer D.B. Goswami said his client would appeal in the Delhi High Court.

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