Amanmani pulled up in CBI court for using phone during hearing

LUCKNOW: Independent MLA Amanmani Tripathi, who is facing trial for murdering his wife, was pulled up by CBI court in Ghaziabad on Wednesday for using a mobile phone during hearing.

The son of jailed mafia-turned-politician Amarmani Tripathi, 35-year-old Amanmani is facing trial for killing his wife Sara Singh.

Elected from Nautanwa assembly seat in the 2017 assembly elections, Amanmani's wife had died in a car crash in Firozabad district on July 9, 2015.

While his parents were convicted for life for conspiring to murder poet Madhumita Shukla in 2003, Amanmani was charge-sheeted by CBI in February for murdering Sara through a premeditated conspiracy which was projected as a road accident.

Court proceedings began in May and Amanmani appeared in court as the prime accused on Wednesday.

Former home secretary SK Raghuvanshi was called as a witness. While Raghuvanshi was stating that he was sure that Amanmani was responsible for the murder, Amanmani was caught using the phone.

Lawyer Navneet Tyagi, who is representing Sara's family, said, "The court took an adverse view of Amanmani's behaviour. It confiscated the phone immediately and warned him against repeating the act. It seems he was trying to chat with somebody when Raghuvanshi was giving his statement."

Retired IAS officer SK Raghuvanshi was posted as home secretary when his niece Sara was found dead on Kanpur-Delhi national highway in Firozabad district. The couple was heading to Leh in a Maruti Swift Dzire. While UP Police had dubbed Sara's death as an accidental one on the basis of a postmortem report, CBI had junked the theory and unearthed evidence against Tripathi before framing charges.