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NIA court convicts 28 in Kasganj’s Chandan Gupta murder case
Nearly seven years after the murder of one Chandan Gupta in the communal flare-up in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj during Tiranga Yatra on January 26, 2018, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court here on Thursday convicted 28 accused in the case
Nearly seven years after the murder of one Chandan Gupta in the communal flare-up in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj during Tiranga Yatra on January 26, 2018, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court here on Thursday convicted 28 accused in the case.
The quantum of punishment will be announced on Friday. The court of additional district judge Vivekanand Saran Tripathi on Thursday found 28 accused guilty under several sections of the IPC including 307 (attempt to murder), and 302 (murder). The court also charged them under the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971.
Giving this information, district government counsel Manoj Tripathi said, “We will seek maximum punishment for all those convicted.” The court acquitted two other accused—Nasiruddin and Asim Qureshi—giving them the benefit of doubt.
Those convicted are Salim, Wasim, Nasim, Jahid ‘Jagga’, Asiq Qureshi ‘Hitler’, Aslam Qureshi, Akram, Taufeeq, Khillan, Shabab, Rahat, Salam, Mohsin, Asif Jimwala, Saquib, Bablu, Nishu, Wasif, Imran, Shamshad, Jafar, Sakir, Khalid Parvez, Faizan, Imran Qayyum, Sakir Siddiqui, Munazir Rafi and Amir Rafi.
Of 28 convicted, Munazir Rafi was in jail in connection with the murder case of lawyer Mohini Tomar of Kasganj. The remaining accused were on bail. All of them surrendered in the court and were sent to jail. Munazir Rafi, who is an accused in Chandan Gupta’s murder, is also an accused in the murder of advocate Mohini Tomar of Kasganj. Tomar was murdered on September 3, 2024, in Kasganj.
Violence broke out in Kasganj on January 26, 2018, during a Tiranga Yatra, a motorcycle rally with people carrying the national flag, organised by members of groups such as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on the Republic Day.
The bikers, with national flags, wanted a way through an area earmarked for a national flag hoisting ceremony in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood. The altercation turned violent, resulting in the shooting of Abhishek Gupta aka Chandan Gupta and subsequent communal clashes.
During the trial of the case, prosecution presented 18 witnesses and the defence presented 23. Saurabh Pal, a prosecution witness in the case, had turned hostile.
