A Sasaram sessions court on Thursday sentenced three accused, including two brothers, to life imprisonment in a 2019 case involving the brutal murder of a scrap dealer’s son, who was abducted from a Durga pandal. The court also imposed a fine of ₹30,000 on each of them.
Additional public prosecutor (APP) Anil Kumar Singh said Rohit Kumar, son of Sasaram-based scrap dealer Kashi Seth, was abducted on the evening of September 8, 2019, while he was working at a Durga pandal in the Takia locality of the town. He was taken to the banks of the Baradih Canal, where he was brutally murdered by strangulation and by inserting a rod into his neck. The body was then thrown into the canal. His father subsequently lodged a missing person complaint at the Sasaram Town police station.
The next morning, Rohit’s body was recovered from the canal near Chitauli village. Village chaukidar Ramji Singh registered a murder case against unidentified persons at the Sasaram Mufassil police station. The body was later identified by the victim’s father.
With the help of ground intelligence and technical surveillance, police identified the three accused as brothers Jitendra Khatik and Kailash Khatik, residents of Takia locality, and Pradeep Khatik of Kadirganj village under the adjacent Darigaon police station area. They were arrested and later confessed to the crime, stating that the murder was committed due to a land dispute with the victim’s father.
{{/usCountry}}With the help of ground intelligence and technical surveillance, police identified the three accused as brothers Jitendra Khatik and Kailash Khatik, residents of Takia locality, and Pradeep Khatik of Kadirganj village under the adjacent Darigaon police station area. They were arrested and later confessed to the crime, stating that the murder was committed due to a land dispute with the victim’s father.
{{/usCountry}}Police submitted a charge sheet under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC. The prosecution examined nine witnesses during the trial to prove its case, the APP said.
The court of District and Additional Sessions Judge-IV Anil Kumar found the accused guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment under Section 302 and five years’ imprisonment under Section 201 of the IPC. All the sentences will run concurrently, he added.