The Hindu : New Delhi News : Case plagued by controversy all the way

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Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Case plagued by controversy all the way

Staff Reporter

Ajay had told the court that he had seen Nitish along with the accused on the fateful night
Latest controversy surrounding him was the sting in which he allegedly admitted to having lied

NEW DELHI: Though a court here on Wednesday convicted prime accused Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav in the Nitish Katara murder case, key prosecution witness Ajay Katara stood out among the dramatis perso nae of the six-year-old case, having been embroiled in controversies right up to the end.

The latest controversy surrounding Ajay was the sting operation carried out by a local daily in which he allegedly admitted to having lied in the court to favour the prosecution. While the sting was carried out after the court reserved its judgment in the case, the defence tried to use the issue to prolong pronouncement of the verdict saying there was a need to re-examine Ajay.

During his deposition, Ajay had told the court that he had seen Nitish along with the accused in their Tata Safari vehicle on the fateful night as his scooter had broken down near a check-post on the Delhi-Hapur highway.

The prosecution had claimed it as an important testimony as, according to it, Ajay was the last person to have seen Nitish alive after he was kidnapped from outside a marriage venue at Kavi Nagar in Ghaziabad on the night of February 16, 2002. In the sting operation, Ajay allegedly admitted that he was not present at the spot where he had claimed to have seen Nitish. He had also allegedly admitted in the sting operation that he had helped plant blood sample of Nitish’s mother Neelam Katara on a hammer that was allegedly used in the commission of offence and recovered by the police. He did so to ensure that the DNA of the blood sample would match that of Nitish during forensic examination. After the accused had moved the court seeking re-examination of Ajay, the key witness filed an affidavit admitting that it was his voice and face in the sting operation CD. However, he claimed that he said the things attributed to him under pressure.

Threat to life

Back in 2007 Ajay had alleged that Vikas’ father D. P. Yadav wanted to eliminate him. He alleged that Mr. Yadav had tried to kill him by poisoning following which he had to be hospitalised.

However, in his statement before the court, the doctor who had attended on him told the court that there was no poisoning. During final arguments, defence counsel questioned the authenticity of Ajay’s statement to the police as it was recorded a month after the incident. The defence had claimed that by then the Nitish Katara murder case had become highly publicised and the witness, along with the police, had had enough time to “cook up” a story.

However, the prosecution countered it by quoting Supreme Court rulings that under certain circumstances testimonies recorded after a gap of a certain period from the date of the incident can be accepted.

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