Three get life term for killing Delhi trader

CHANDIGARH: Three persons in their early 20s and 30s were on Thursday sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life on the charges of murder.
Sunny Kapoor (32), resident of Sector 22, Ram Asre 30), from Partapgarh district in UP, and Sanjay (23), from Khagria district of Bihar, were convicted for killing Satish Mehra, a Delhi-based trader, in Sector 17 on September 18, 1999.
Ramesh alias Raju from Mandi district, another accused in the case, could not be arrested and was declared proclaimed offender on February 7, 2000. Mehra, proprietor of a garment shop in Chandni Chowk, used to frequent Chandigarh and Jammu for collecting money with regard to sale of goods supplied by his firm.
Mehra reached Chandigarh on September 18, 1999, and went to SCO 94-95, Sector 17, owned by complainants Parveen Kumar Gulati and Satish Gulati, garment dealers.
Mehra also visited a garment retail shop in Sector 22 and received Rs 25,000 in cash and a cheque for Rs 40,000 on account of goods supplied by him. He left for the local bus stop at 8.15 pm to board a bus to New Delhi, but he didn''t reach home.
On September 19, 1999, his brother Nirmal Mehra called up his business associates in the city and informed them that Satish hadn''t reached.
On September 20, 1999, police recovered a dead body from a ditch full of water near Udyog Bhawan in Sector 17. SK Gulati and Parveen Gulati identified the body.
On September 29, 1999, Chander Pal told the police that Sunny, Ram Asre and Sanjay had confessed before him that they had killed a man and thrown his body in a ditch. They had also confessed to taking his gold ring, some currency notes and his shoes.
It was established in the court that the accused had killed Mehra,who was under the influence of alcohol on the night of September 18, with the motive of taking away his cash and other valuables. The trader was strangulated by the accused.
The public prosecutor had pleaded that a deterrent punishment be awarded in the case, while the defence counsel appealed the court to take a lenient view, as the accused were young and the sole bread earners of their respective families.
The court held them guilty and awarded them rigorous imprisonment for life. Additional district and sessions judge Balbir Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each on the accused. Default in payment would attract six extra months of rigorous imprisonment.