BHOPAL: The three men who kidnapped and murdered six year-old twins in MP’s Chitrakoot in February 2019, were on Monday sentenced to a minimum of 28 years each in prison, while two others were given life terms. A sixth accused, the boys’ tutor, had killed himself in jail.
The anguished father, Brajesh Rawat, who waited 880 days to verdict day, said: “I failed to get justice for my children. I will take every judicial step to get justice.”
On February 24, 2019, six-year-old Priyansh and Shreyansh were found tied together, weighed down with stones, and dumped in the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district, still in their school uniforms. Kidnapped at gunpoint from their schoolbus, they had been kept alive for nine days, and murdered after Rawat paid the ransom. “They threw my little boys in the river when they were alive. They took ransom too but killed them for just a few bucks,” Rawat had sobbed. The last time he heard their voice was when he paid the ransom on February19.
Residents throng dist court for verdict, police step up security
During the nine days that the twins were held captive, a task force of 500 police personnel from two states ran about looking for them, but in vain.The verdict came at 5pm on Monday. Local residents thronged the district court premises to hear the judgment. Police stepped up security, recalling how Chitrakoot had reacted with fury after the murders and Section 144 had been imposed.
“Accused Padam Shukla, Raju Dwivedi and Lucky Singh Tomar were sentenced to double life terms for abduction and murder, along with jail terms under other sections. The life sentences will not be concurrent, but will come one after the other, so they will be in jail for at least 28 years,” additional district prosecution officer Dharmendra Singh told TOI. Two other accused -- Vikramjeet and Pinta -- were absolved of murder but convicted on other charges and sentenced to life terms.
The sixth accused, tutor Ramkesh Yadav, had killed himself in prison three months after the murder. Shukla, a Chitrakoot resident, was the mastermind of the crime, police said. The others are from UP. Asked if the prosecution would take any other step, Singh said: “It’s a detailed, 226 page judgment. We are going through it. After perusal of the judgement, it will be decided if we will move an appeal for enhancement of punishment.”
