Court holds 3 guilty of abduction, murder in Kushagra case

Kanpur: Additional district and sessions judge Subhash Chandra on Tuesday convicted three accused in the much-publicised Kushagra murder case. The judge held Ruchika Vats, her paramour Prabhat Shukla and Shiva Gupta guilty of kidnapping and murder.The court convicted Prabhat Shukla and Shiva Gupta on charges of kidnapping, murder and causing disappearance of evidence, while Ruchika Vats was found guilty of kidnapping and murder. The court fixed January 22 for hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence.
According to additional district govt counsel (ADGC) Bhaskar Mishra, the incident took place on October 30, 2023. Kushagra, a student and resident of the Raipurwa locality, was kidnapped while on his way to coaching classes, with the intention of extorting ransom from his parents.After the abduction, Prabhat Shukla took Kushagra to his house, where he allegedly strangled the boy with a rope. At the time of the murder, Shiva Gupta and Ruchika Vats were present at the spot. Following the crime, the accused sent a ransom letter to Kushagra's house through Shiva Gupta, who reached the victim's residence on a scooty belonging to Ruchika Vats. After dropping the letter, he fled the scene.Ruchika Vats earlier worked as a home tutor for Kushagra. An apartment guard later identified the scooty used in the crime, which led the police to arrest Ruchika Vats and subsequently unravel the murder conspiracy.The ADGC further informed the court that charges were framed against the accused on May 3, 2024. During the trial, the prosecution examined 14 witnesses to establish its case. The last witness was examined and cross-examined on December 12, 2025.