Murder of judge’s wife, son: 7 witnesses record statements

GURUGRAM: The district court on Friday started trial against personal security officer (PSO) Mahipal Singh (32), who has been accused of murdering the wife and son of an additional session judge, by recording statements of seven witnesses in the case. Seven police officers, including crime scene in-charge who had collected samples from the spot, recorded their statements.

The special Investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the alleged murder had submitted its chargesheet in the court on December 26, and charges were framed against Mahipal under sections 302 (murder) and 201(destruction of evidence) of IPC and section 27 of Arms Act. “Seven witnesses recorded their statements and another set of seven will record statements during the next hearing,” said public prosecutor Anurag Hooda.

To defend his case, Mahipal has engaged a lawyer from Delhi. Lawyers from Gurugram had refused to represent Mahipal, and so far he was represented by the lawyer provided by the legal aid service.

“Finally, we have managed to get a lawyer,” said Mahipal’s uncle, adding that he hoped the court would conduct a fair trial.

Police have listed 81 witnesses. There are three private witnesses.

Mahipal was PSO of additional session judge Krishan Kant, who was posted in Gurugram at the time of incident, and is currently posted in Ambala. He had taken judge’s wife (Ritu) and son (Dhruv) to Arcadia market in Sector 51 on October 13. He allegedly shot them with his service revolver after an altercation over handing over the car keys. After shooting the mother and son, the SPO had tried to put Dhruv’s body inside the car, but after the two failed attempts he fled the scene in the judge’s car. Ritu had succumbed to her injuries on the same day, while Dhruv died after 10 days at a private hospital.