9 yrs after Shivani murder, R K Sharma is held guilty

Wed, Mar 19 04:47 AM

Suspended IPS officer R K Sharma and three others were today convicted of the murder in 1999 of Shivani Bhatnagar, a staffer with The Indian Express. The quantum of sentence is likely to be pronounced by the fast-track court on Thursday.

In his 110-page judgment, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rajendra Kumar Shastri held that there was strong circumstantial evidence, including records of telephone calls, which proved that Sharma (54), a Haryana cadre IPS officer, was the main conspirator and co-convict Pradeep Sharma, a former Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) clerk, was the "killer". The accused have been convicted under Section 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Shivani was killed on January 23, 1999. The two others who have been held guilty in the case are Sri Bhagwan and Satya Prakash. But accused Ved Prakash Sharma and Ved alias Kalu were acquitted for want of sufficient evidence against them.

R K Sharma showed no emotions as the judgment was pronounced. "Doesn't matter, it's part of life," he told his relatives in the packed courtroom. His counsel, S P Minocha, later said they would file an appeal in the Delhi High Court.

While convicting the accused, the court relied chiefly on the call records produced by the prosecution counsel, S K Saxena and Manisha Sharma, to establish the intimate relationship between R K Sharma and Shivani.

The court, however, refused to accept the prosecution's main theory that the IPS officer plotted Shivani's murder as she had threatened to expose his alleged involvement in leaking classified documents to her while he was posted in the Prime Minister's Office.

The conspiracy to kill her was reportedly hatched on January 13, 1999 at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi where Sharma showed Shivani's photographs to the other accused. He also led them to the area outside her home in East Delhi, the ASJ observed in his order.

Sharma was reportedly upset as Shivani had threatened to reveal their relationship, said the ASJ, referring to the testimonies of the victim's sister Sevanti and her friend Sejal Shah. The first attempt on Shivani's life was planned for January 21 but the accused failed to execute it. On January 23, they made a second attempt and were successful. Both these find mention in the court order.

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