Nitish Katara case: Witness alleges torture by officials

A key witness in the Nitish Katara murder case filed a petition in the court alleging he was being threatened and harassed by Uttar Pradesh government officials for testifying in the case.

A key witness in the Nitish Katara murder case filed a petition in the court alleging he was being threatened and harassed by Uttar Pradesh government officials for testifying in the case.

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The witness, Ajay Katara claimed in his plea that 10 fake cases were being lodged against him at various police stations in Ghaziabad. Following his plea, a Delhi court issued a notice to the SSP, Ghaziabad. "Issue a notice to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ghaziabad, for July 8. A report be called on the application of Ajay Katara," Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) J R Aryan said.

Katara, a key witness who testified that he had last seen the victim Nitish Katara alive in the company of accused Vikas Yadav, Vishal and Sukhdev Pehalwan, filed a fresh plea making the allegations. Earlier also, Katara had filed A similar application against D P Yadav, father of Vikas and a controversial UP politician from the state and some others.

The earlier plea was filed in the case against Pehalwan, a co-accused who is standing a trial separate from convicts Vikas and Vishal as he had absconded after the offence. Trial in his case began in 2005 when he surrendered before the police.

Vikas and his cousin Vishal were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for killing Nitish, a business executive and son of an IAS officer, as they did not approve of his intimate relations with their sister Bharti Yadav.

The Yadavs have challenged their conviction in the Delhi High Court. According to the prosecution, Pehalwan was present with the accused in their Tata Safari car after they had abducted Nitish from a marriage function in Ghaziabad on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002 and killed him.