37 years later, ‘freed’ murder convict to face trial again

NEW DELHI: After 37 years, a murder convict will face trial again after CBI filed a charge-sheet against him for allegedly securing release from an Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI: After 37 years, a murder convict will face trial again after CBI filed a charge-sheet against him for allegedly securing release from an Uttar Pradesh jail under “dubious” circumstances in 1979.

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The bizarre case is of Krishna Dev Tiwari who was sentenced to life imprisonment by Allahabad High Court but was released from Basti prison in 1979 under mysterious circumstances.

Tiwari had claimed that he had served his term till 1996. But CBI, which probed the case on the orders of Supreme Court in 2015, found that he did not serve his full term and his version was found to be contradictory.

The CBI sources said, in the charge-sheet it filed in Lucknow on July 29, that his release from Basti Jail was “dubious”.

Based on the CBI report, Supreme Court directed Tiwari and his brothers Nand Kishore and Rama Nand to surrender before the competent court by Monday to face trial.

Tiwari along with his two brothers was convicted by a trial court under charges of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, which was challenged by the accused before the Allahabad High Court.

The high court upheld the conviction of Krishna Dev while his brothers were acquitted of murder charges, but were sentenced to six months under different sections of IPC on October 16, 1978.

Upon confirmation of sentence, Krishna Dev was moved from Basti prison to Varanasi Central Prison. He was moved back to Basti prison on December 4, 1978, and was released from there on January 1, 1979.