Gurugram, March 16 The court here convicted two individuals for robbing and fatally shooting a taxi driver, sentencing them to life imprisonment, while a third individual was sentenced to three years in prison for providing illegal weapons to the assailants, police said.
According to police, on March 24, 2022, information was received at the Pataudi police station that a man's body was lying on Palasoli Road near Mau Lokri village, with a gunshot wound to the head.
A search revealed a driver's license, which identified the deceased as Rakesh Gurjar, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan.
Rakesh, who worked as a taxi driver, was driving an Eco car and had left with passengers on the night of March 23, but never returned.
The investigation revealed that the accused had rented Rakesh's taxi by posing as passengers. On their way, they asked him to stop the vehicle at a secluded location, where they initially attempted to snatch the car keys before fatally shooting Rakesh.
The accused then fled the scene with the car and the deceased's mobile phone. The car was later found abandoned in the Nuh area, police added.
During the investigation, one of the accused, Hitesh alias Honey, initially arrested in connection with another case, confessed to the cabbie's murder during interrogation.
Based on his statement, another accused, Pankaj, was arrested from Mumbai. A locally made pistol, the weapon used in the crime, was recovered from his possession. A report from the Forensic Science Laboratory later confirmed that the bullet recovered from the deceased's body was fired from the same weapon.
The third accused, Kuldeep, who supplied the illegal weapon, was also arrested. All the accused were subsequently sent to judicial custody, police said.
During the trial, the prosecution presented 32 witnesses and various evidence, including forensic reports, before the court, they added.
"The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Puneet Sehgal convicted and sentenced all three accused on Monday. Pankaj and Hitesh alias Honey were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and robbery," a senior police officer said.
Kuldeep was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for providing weapons and destroying evidence. The court also ordered Pankaj and Hitesh to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the victim's family, he added.