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Sippy Sidhu murder case: Provide protection to eyewitness, court tells CBI
The witness, who is prosecution witness number 1 (PW-1), had supported the prosecution theory while recording his statements on Monday, when trial in the nine-year-old murder case began
The special CBI court hearing the trial against Kalyani Singh, the prime accused in the 2015 Sippy Sidhu murder case, on Tuesday directed the investigating agency to provide protection to an eyewitness who identified her in court.
The witness, who is prosecution witness number 1 (PW-1), had supported the prosecution theory while recording his statements on Monday, when trial in the nine-year-old murder case began. The eyewitness had identified Kalyani in court on Monday.
He had deposed before the court that he had seen Kalyani at the Sector 27 park on September 20, 2015, in the evening. He also saw one unknown person entering the park and firing two gunshots at the deceased (Sippy Sidhu). Thereafter, he also saw Kalyani firing two gunshots at the deceased to kill him, he narrated in court.
The eyewitness said he had also seen Kalyani and unknown assailants running away from the spot in two different vehicles. His part cross-examination was deferred to July 11. Subsequently, the witness moved an application before the court that he was apprehending danger to his life.
“The CBI is under direction from this court to ensure proper safety arrangement for the witness immediately so as to ensure his safe return back home as well as subsequent safety and protection. Necessary intimation be sent to the concerned authority through public prosecutor,” said the special CBI court of Alka Malik in its order.
Framing charges against Kalyani on May 4, the court had ordered that a prima facie case for commission of offences punishable under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), Section 302 (murder) and Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code was made out. Kalyani was accordingly given the chargesheet to which she pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial.
Sidhu’s bullet-riddled body was found at a park in Sector 27 on September 20, 2015.
A national-level shooter and lawyer, he was the grandson of late justice SS Sidhu, a former Punjab and Haryana high court judge. Kalyani is the daughter of retired Himachal Pradesh high court judge justice Sabina.
Sippy’s family has accused Kalyani of killing him as they had turned down her marriage proposal. She was arrested in June 2022 and has been out on bail since September 2022.
