Kota, March 12 A court for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes here on Thursday sentenced a 65-year-old man, his three sons, and six other relatives to life imprisonment for the murder of the brother of a Rajasthan Police constable seven years ago, due to rivalry in a local cooperative society election.
According to Public Prosecutor Ritesh Mewara, the incident occurred in Galana village under the jurisdiction of the Kaithun police station on the night of February 3, 2019, when Meghraj Nagar (65), along with his three sons and relatives, entered the house of Abhimanyu Bagadi.
One of them – Teerathraj, Nagar's son – shot Abhimanyu with a locally made pistol, causing fatal injuries to his chest. They also beat him and his father, Mathuralal, before fleeing.
The two were taken to the hospital, where Abhimanyu succumbed to his injuries that same night, the prosecutor said.
Based on a complaint by family members on February 4, 2019, the police registered a case against Meghraj Nagar, his three sons, and six other relatives under various sections of the old Indian Penal Code, including section 302 (murder), as well as provisions under the Arms Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and began investigating.
The police arrested all 10 accused in connection with the case. Nine of them were granted bail, while Teetathraj was denied bail and has been under judicial custody since, Mewara said.
The special SC/ST court on Thursday, in a 135-page judgment, found Meghraj Nagar (65), his three sons – Kushraj Nagar (34), Ramraj Nagar (32), Teetathraj Nagar (37) – and Dinesh (35), Bhagwan (45), Naveen Kumar (44), Om Prakash (55), Hemraj (53), and Shailendra(29), all residents of the Kaithun police station area, guilty of murder and awarded life imprisonment to each, the public prosecutor said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 on each of the convicted, he added.
The deceased, Abhimanyu Bagadi, was the brother of a Rajasthan Police constable, and the motive for the crime was rivalry in a local cooperative society election, Mewara said.
During the trial, statements of 40 witnesses were recorded before the court, and 138 documents were presented, he added.
