LUCKNOW: An NIA court in Lucknow on Thursday convicted 28 persons in the murder of 22-year-old Chandan Gupta, who was killed in a communal clash in Kasganj during the Tiranga Yatra on January 26, 2018. The quantum of punishment will be announced on Friday.
Additional district and sessions judge, NIA court, Lucknow, Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi, found the 28 accused guilty under several sections of the IPC, including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) along with provisions of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act and the CLA Act.
Those convicted in the case include Wasim, Naseem, Zahid alias Jagga, Bablu, Akram, Taufiq, Mohsin, Rahat, Salman, Asif, Nishu alias Zeeshan, Khillan, Wasif, Imran, Shamshad, Zafar, Shakir, Khalid, Faizan, Imran, Shakir, Asif Qureshi alias Hitler, Aslam Qureshi, Shawab, Saqib, and Amir Rafi. They were taken into judicial custody and sent to jail.
One accused, Munajir Rafi, appeared in the court through video conferencing from Kasganj jail. The court issued an arrest warrant against another accused, Salim, as he was not present in the court. Along with IPC sections, accused Salim, Wasim, Naseem, Mohsin, Rahat, Bablu, and Salman have also been convicted under the Arms Act.
Additional DGC (criminal) MK Singh told TOI that 18 witnesses were produced by the prosecution, while 23 witnesses were produced by the defence during the trial. He said that Kasganj police filed a chargesheet in July 2018, adding section 124A (sedition), leading to the case’s transfer to the NIA court. The framing of the charges began on September 2, 2019.
“However, the trial against the accused under section 124A of sedition was not held as the SC stayed trial under this section across the country,” said Singh. Singh added that initially, 30 individuals were accused in the case; however, Asim Qureshi and Nasiruddin were acquitted during framing of charges.
On January 26, 2018, a Tiranga Yatra was taken out in Kasganj on the occasion of Republic Day. It was led by Abhishek Gupta alias Chandan Gupta along with his brother Vivek Gupta and other companions. All of them were going on two-wheelers with the tricolour in their hands, chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
According to the NIA chargesheet, as soon as their yatra reached near the Govt Girls Inter College gate from Tehsil Road, the accused Salim, Wasim, Naseem, and others, armed with weapons, blocked the road in a planned manner and stopped the yatra. They also allegedly snatched the tricolour from the hands of the youths participating in the yatra and threw it on the ground. Then they threatened by pointing their weapons while shouting slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and ‘Hindustan Murdabad’. When Abhishek alias Chandan Gupta opposed this, these accused started pelting stones and firing with the intention of killing him.
At this provocation, accused Salim shot Abhishek Gupta alias Chandan Gupta with his weapon, which seriously injured him. Somehow, Vivek saved his life along with other companions and took his brother Chandan to Kasganj police station. From there, Chandan was immediately sent to the district hospital for treatment, where he was declared dead. Chandan Gupta’s father, Sushil Gupta, lodged the FIR of the murder case.
