A local court on Friday awarded life imprisonment to 16 people for killing a 20-year-old student, Yogesh Kumar Rana, at an examination centre at a college in Radaur town of the district in May 2013.
The accused were convicted by the court of AK Bishnoi, additional sessions judge on Thursday.
The convicts were identified as Randheer Singh, Gaurav, Gurdeep, Sandeep of Daulatpur village; Naresh Kumar of Patashgarh, Satbir of Khurdban, Karamvir of Pabni Kalan, Ravinder and Anil of Rattuwala village; Rajkumar of Ban, Narender and Devender of Sedupur; Vikash and Jitender of Tandwal; and Vishal of Sadhaura.
While pronouncing the judgment, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on main accused Randheer Singh and Rs 10,000 each on the remaining 14 convicts.
One of the accused in the murder case, Guarav, was acquitted by the court while another is a juvenile.
Yogesh, a resident of Nachron village in the district and BA first-year student of Mukand Lal National College of Raduar in Yamunanagar district, was brutally murdered by the accused due to old enmity on May 1, 2013, when he was sitting in his final examination.
The footage of CCTV cameras installed in the premises of the college played a vital role in the case, as it showed the accused, carrying weapons, entering the college.
{{/usCountry}}The footage of CCTV cameras installed in the premises of the college played a vital role in the case, as it showed the accused, carrying weapons, entering the college.
{{/usCountry}}According to the police complaint, the youth was beaten up mercilessly and he received a bullet injury on his private parts. He was taken to the Yamunanagar civil hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
The police had booked the accused under Sections 302, 148, 149 and 120 B of the IPC. During the hearing over the past three years, the court recorded statements of about 50 witnesses.
Expressing his satisfaction over the judgment, victim’s father Chander Pal Rana said, “I fought a long battle to get justice to my son. I was even pressured to withdraw the case, but I decided to carry on. Today’s decision has brought justice to my departed son.”