Current Affairs

cindrell@ · Vice Admiral Joined: 28 May 2008 Posts: 1027

NEW DELHI: A trial court in Delhi convicted Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal in the six-year-old Nitish Katara murder case.

The court will pronounce quantum of sentence which may range from life term to death penalty on May 30.

Vikas, son of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, and Vishal are convicted of murder, abduction and destruction of evidence in the case.

Vikas allegedly didn't like Nitish's friendship with his sister Bharti Yadav.

Bharti, Vikas' sister, in November 2006 denied before a court that she that she was in a relationship with Nitish.

cindrell@ · Vice Admiral Joined: 28 May 2008 Posts: 1027

New Delhi: The Patiala House Court on Wednesday pronounced Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav guilty for the kidnapping and murder of Nitish Katara six years ago.

They have also been declared guilty of destruction of evidence.

The court is likely to pronounce quantum of sentence — which may range from life term to death penalty — on May 30.

The court rejected the accused's contention that the Delhi High Court was to hear their plea at 10:30 hrs IST on the ground that the trial court proceedings have not been stayed.

Vikas Yadav's counsel, K N Balgopal — who was on his way to the court to meet his client — said, "We will appeal against the judgement."

He also added, "Bharti Yadav only accepted the relationship, for whatever it is worth. She never said her brothers were responsible for the murder."

The prosecution has failed to build up the chain of circumstantial evidence, he further stated.

The Case

Nitish Katara, son of an IAS officer, was allegedly killed by Vikas and his cousin Vishal Yadav on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002.

They had allegedly abducted the victim from a marriage function in Ghaziabad. His body was later recovered from a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr District.

According to the prosecution, Katara, a business executive, was killed by the accused, as they did not approve of their sister, Bharti Yadav’s growing proximity with him.

Earlier, the prosecution had produced evidence of Ajay Katara having seen the accused taking Nitish to their car on the fateful night near Hapur Chungi in Ghaziabad.

The accused contended that the chain of events in the case remained incomplete as none of the prosecution witnesses had either supported the abduction or identified the main accused.

Ajay Katara’s testimony was also challenged on the premise that the police recorded his statement over 20 days after the crime.

Current Affairs

Katara murder case: Vikas Yadav held guilty