Noida: In the first among some 55 cases lodged against him, gangster Sunder Bhati has been sentenced to life imprisonment, along with 11 of his accomplices, for the murder of SP leader Harendra Nagar and his gunner Bhudev Sharma in 2015.
Dadupur village pradhan Harendra and his gunner were shot dead by Bhati and his men when they had gone to attend a wedding function in Niana village of Greater Noida on February 8, 2015.
Apart from handing down the punishment to the 12 convicts on Monday, the court of additional sessions judge (fast track-1) Anil Kumar Singh also imposed a total fine of Rs 20.70 lakh on them and ordered that half of the amount be given to the family of the deceased gunner.
On March 25, the court held Bhati and his 11 associates — Yogesh, Vikas Pandit, Kalu Bhati, Dinesh Bhati, Anup Bhati, Yatendra Chaudhary, Sonu, Bobby alias Sher Singh, Rishipal, Singhraj and Surendra Pandit — guilty of murder under Section 302, as well as on charges of conspiracy and rioting.
However, Manoj, an accused in the case, was acquitted by the court for lack of evidence. During the hearings, district government counsel Brhamjeet Bhati had argued that the crime committed by Bhati and his men was very serious and heinous in nature and it resulted in the death of Harendra and his gunner.
The prosecution had also demanded capital punishment for the accused and submitted that none deserved any leniency for also causing life threatening attempt on complainant Harendra’s younger brother Ravindra Nagar and two eyewitnesses, Vikas and Azad. After the murder, Ravindra had filed a complaint against Bhati and his gang members under sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC at Site V police station.
In February, Harendra’s widow, Bevan Nagar, filed a complaint alleging that Bhati’s associates had been threatening Ravindra to withdraw the case against the gangster.