3 get death penalty for advocate’s 2019 murder

AGRA: A local court in Muzaffarnagar on Monday sentenced three people to death in the 2019 kidnapping and murder of advocate Sameer Saifi. The court of additional district and sessions judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar also awarded seven years’ imprisonment to a fourth convict.

The prosecution said the convicts — Singol Alvi, 38, Rizwan Ahmed alias Sonu, 39, and Azbaz Ahmed alias Shalu, 25, all residents of Muzaffarnagar — were Saifi’s acquaintances and abducted and killed him over a Rs 40 lakh dispute on Oct 15, 2019. His body was found four days later in Sikri village in the Bhopa area.

Additional district govt counsel Kuldeep Kumar said, “The accused had a monetary dispute of around Rs 40 lakh with Saifi. When he pressed for repayment, they conspired to eliminate him. He was taken to a farm in Sikri, where he was strangled with a rope and buried. Dinesh Singh was sentenced under IPC section 201 for destruction of evidence.”

A case was registered based on a complaint by Saifi’s brother, Mohammad Danish, under IPC sections 302 (punishment for murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 364 (kidnapping) and a chargesheet was filed later. District govt counsel Rajeev Sharma said the court also imposed a penalty of Rs 11.5 lakh on the four convicts.

In its order, the court said, “Human life is a beautiful gift bestowed by God; therefore, every individual possesses an equal right to live. Since life is granted by the Almighty, it is the Almighty alone who has the power to take it away. If an individual takes the life of another, that individual forfeits their own right to exist. In the case at hand, the convicted individuals committed murder in a brutal manner out of greed for money; consequently, the imposition of the death penalty remains the appropriate remedy.”