E-Paper
Man gets life for kidnapping, killing teen in Bathinda
Victim Khushant Garg, a Class 11 student, was kidnapped by his Facebook friend Jaspreet and a juvenile from Ludhiana for a ₹2 crore ransom.
A sessions court in Bathinda has awarded life imprisonment to 28-year-old Jaspreet Singh for the 2018 murder of a 16-year-old boy from Rampura town in the district.
Victim Khushant Garg, a Class 11 student, was kidnapped by his Facebook friend Jaspreet and a juvenile from Ludhiana for a ₹2 crore ransom.
Convicts had killed Khushant while they were negotiating the ransom amount. Both were arrested by the police with the cash within hours of the kidnapping.
Duo had slit Khushant’s throat and dumped his body in Rampura.
Additional district and sessions judge Rajesh Kumar pronounced the judgment on March 10, in which Jaspreet was convicted on the charges of kidnapping and murder of Khushant.
The court sentenced Jaspreet to life imprisonment for both kidnapping and murder, and the sentences will run concurrently.
The sessions court order also stated that the juvenile involved in the crime was convicted in another trial as a child in conflict with the law (CCL) on March 26, last year.
Son of a spare part dealer, Khushant was kidnapped by Jaspreet and the juvenile on November 20, 2018.
The aggrieved family members alerted the police the same day. In the meantime, the victim’s father, Vivek Kumar, received a phone call from a person who demanded a sum of ₹2 crore for the release of Khushant.
As the kidnappers reduced the ransom to ₹80 lakh, Vipin informed the police, and the authorities planned an operation to nab the culprits.
The police laid a trap and nabbed Jaspreet and the juvenile with a ransom amount of ₹15,000 in a bus early on November 21, 2018.
In his order, the sessions judge stated that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the body of the victim, the mobile phone of the deceased and a bag containing ransom were recovered from the possession of Jaspreet Singh and a juvenile.
