Former MP legislator sentenced to life for killing grandniece

Former MLA Ashok Vir Vikram Singh alias Bhaiya Raja was sentenced to life for murder of his grandniece Vasundhara Bundela.

Vasundhara, 20, daughter of Raja Bhaiya's nephew Mrigendra Singh, was shot dead three and half years ago at Misrod in Bhopal.

Bhaiya Raja (64) and his three accomplices—Bhupendra Singh alias Halke, Pankaj Shukla and Abhimanyu Pathak, who had planned and committed the murder were awarded life sentence.

Another accused, Rohini Shukla alias Rampi was acquitted.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanjeev Kalgaonkar held Bhaiya Raja guilty and awarded him life imprisonment.

Fashion designing student Vasundhara was found dead at Ratanpur in Misrod in the outskirts of Bhopal on December 11, 2009.

During investigation, it was found that Vasundhara had been sexually exploited by Bhaiya Raja and that he had made her undergo abortion. Vasundhara had confided this in her mother.

“Vasundhara had told Bhaiya Raja that she would expose him for his immoral act. When he failed to dissuade her from her plan, he decided to kill her. Bhaiya Raja’s driver Bhupendra alias Halke, Rohini Shukla alias Rampi and other accomplices instead of dropping her to the hostel, took her to Misrod where Halke shot her”, said PK Srivastava, the counsel for Vasundhara’s father Mrigendra Singh.

Srivastava said that the police recovered Vasundhara’s ear stud apart from bloodstains on the SUV owned by Pankaj Shukla. Later, the country-made pistol was recovered from Bhaiya Raja’s ancestral palace, Garhi, in Gaharwar town in Chhatarpur.

Bhaiya Raja had dozens of criminal cases registered against him in Chhatarpur in the past. However, because of his influence in the region, people didn’t dare to depose against him. He had won election on Samajwadi Party ticket in the past.

Bhaiya Raja’s wife Asha Rani Singh is currently a legislator, who had won from Bijawar (Chhatarpur) on BJP ticket.

First Published: May 30, 2013 14:38 IST