Mahipal had been posted as Sharma’s PSO for one-and-a-half years and had no previous record of misconduct, police had said. (File photo)
Almost sixteen months after a personal security officer (PSO) opened fire at the wife and son of Additional Sessions Judge Kishan Kant Sharma, whom he had been deployed to protect, a district court Thursday held the PSO guilty under various sections of the Arms Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 302, which relates to murder.
“He has been held guilty under offences 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC, and Section 27 of the Arms Act. The arguments on the quantum of sentence will take place tomorrow,” public prosecutor Anurag Hooda said.
The incident had taken place on October 13, 2018, at the Arcadia market in the city’s Sector 49, when PSO Mahipal opened fire on Sharma’s wife, Ritu, and his 18-year-old son, Dhruv. In videos recorded by bystanders, Mahipal was also seen to haul the teenager’s body into the Honda City car in which they had arrived. Failing to do so, however, he eventually sped away in the vehicle. He was arrested two hours later on the Gwal Pahari road.
While Ritu, who had been shot twice-in her should and abdomen-succumbed to her injuries the same night, her son died 10 days later.
Mahipal had been posted as Sharma’s PSO for one-and-a-half years and had no previous record of misconduct, police had said. Terming the case one of “cold-blooded murder”, police said that the incident occurred in the spur of the moment, after Ritu and Dhruv rebuked Mahipal for being untraceable, when they returned to their vehicle after shopping.
The chargesheet in the case had been filed on December 26, 2018, and charges were framed on January 9 last year.