Bareilly court awards lifer to ascetic in 2014 temple property feud killing
Additional sessions judge (court no. 9) Avinash Kumar Singh pronounced the verdict on Tuesday, awarding life imprisonment and a fine of ₹25,000 to Chandan Giri, also known as Chandrapal, a resident of Patparganj village under Aliganj police station. He was found guilty of killing Baburam Giri of Aurangabad village in the Shahi police station area.
A Bareilly court has sentenced an ascetic to life imprisonment for murdering a fellow sadhu over a long-standing dispute involving temple property.
Additional sessions judge (court no. 9) Avinash Kumar Singh pronounced the verdict on Tuesday, awarding life imprisonment and a fine of ₹25,000 to Chandan Giri, also known as Chandrapal, a resident of Patparganj village under Aliganj police station. He was found guilty of killing Baburam Giri of Aurangabad village in the Shahi police station area.
According to additional district government counsel (ADGC) Harendra Rathore, the two ascetics had repeatedly clashed over control of temple assets. Investigators found that Chandan strangled Baburam and disposed of his body in a well near the village temple.
The case began when Aurangabad resident Ramesh Chandra Diwakar filed a complaint at the Bahedi police station on February 17, 2014. He had read in a newspaper that police had recovered a body from a well near the temple on February 6. When he visited the station with acquaintances, police showed him clothes and photographs of the deceased, and he identified the body as that of his brother, Baburam.
Chandan was arrested on February 25, 2014, and sent to jail. The charge sheet was filed on July 26 the same year. During the trial, the prosecution examined nine witnesses and presented 12 pieces of evidence, including mobile phone records.
According to the ADGC, a crucial breakthrough came during the examination of Baburam’s mobile phone. Police found that the mobile had been switched on five days after the murder using a different SIM card. Tracking this SIM led investigators to Dharmendra Kashyap, the accused’s nephew. Dharmendra stated that his uncle Chandan had given him the phone and that he had inserted the SIM only to check if it was functioning.
This lead helped investigators establish Chandan’s involvement. After evaluating witness statements, mobile CDRs and other forensic inputs, the court convicted Chandan Giri of murder and sentenced him on Tuesday.
