Four persons get life in jail for murdering SP leader in 2013

Four people, including gangster Randeep Bhati, have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2013 murder of Samajwadi Party leader Chaman Bhati in Greater Noida, India. Three other accused were previously convicted.

A court in Gautam Budh Nagar on Monday sentenced four people to life imprisonment for murdering Samajwadi Party leader, 35-year-old Chaman Bhati, in Greater Noida’s Dabra village in 2013.

The convicts sentenced to life are gangster Randeep Bhati, 33, Kulveer Bhati, 47, Umesh Sharma, 35, and Yogesh Dabra, 35. Three others accused of the killing were convicted by the same court earlier, the prosecution said. (Representational image/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The convicts sentenced to life are gangster Randeep Bhati, 33, Kulveer Bhati, 47, Umesh Sharma, 35, and Yogesh Dabra, 35. Three others accused of the killing were convicted by the same court earlier, the prosecution said.

Additional district government counsel (ADGC) Shilpi Bhadoria said Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Bhati was shot dead at his house on April 24, 2013. As per the complaint submitted by his father at the Dadri police station, Bhati was shot dead by a group of at least nine people, said Bhadoria.

“In his complaint, Chaman’s father Fundan Singh stated that on April 24, 2013 around 5.45pm, Yogesh Dabra, Randeep Bhati, Kulveer Bhati, Umesh Sharma, Amit and four to five others armed with weapons entered Chaman’s house in Dabra village of Greater Noida and fired at Bhati, killing him on the spot. Chaman’s wife, his father and son were present at the house as well. The assailants also fired at them but they were escaped unhurt,” said Bhadoria.

In his complaint, Chaman’s father said it was Yogesh Dabra who hatched the plan to kill his son . “Dabra killed my son to settle an old rivalry. He had tried to kill my son in June 2012 in Kasna but failed,” Singh said in his complaint.

On the basis of this complaint, an FIR was registered against suspects under sections murder, attempt to murder, rioting with arms, house-trespass and relevant charges of the criminal law amendment (CLA) act, at the Dadri police station, informed the ADGC.

“In their investigation, the Greater Noida police filed chargesheet against a total of nine people, of which one was a juvenile at the time of the crime and his case was sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, where he is still under trial. The eight other suspects were identified as Yogesh Dabra, Randeep Bhati, Kulveer Bhati, Umesh Sharma, Jogender alias Jugla, Yatender alias Lala and Manoj,” said Bhadoria.

She said separate charge-sheets were filed against each suspect, and their cases went to trial on different dates between 2015 and 2016. On January 30, 2023, one of the suspects, Manoj, was shot dead in a police encounter, leaving seven suspects for sentencing.

On Monday, the additional sessions court in Gautam Budh Nagar convicted Randeep Bhati, Kulveer Bhati, Yogesh Dabra and Umesh Sharma of murdering SP leader Bhati. “The court has punished all four with life imprisonment along with a fine of ₹50,000. Whereas Jogendra Jugla, Yogendra Lala and Harendra have been acquitted, said ADGC Bhadoria.

“The prosecution has proven the guilt of four convicts beyond doubt whereas in the case of three other accused, the prosecution failed to prove them guilty, hence, they have been acquitted,” additional sessions judge Chandra Mohan Shrivastav said while pronouncing the verdict on Monday.

All four convicts are notorious gangsters of Gautam Budh Nagar and are currently lodged in jail with over two dozen cases of extortion, robbery, murder and attempt to murder registered against them.

While Yogesh Dabra and Umesh Sharma are lodged in Tihar Jail, Randeep Bhati and Kulveer Bhati are lodged in Laksar Jail, Greater Noida