Picked up for varsity student’s murder in 2020, juvenile granted bail by Pocso court

Noida: The additional district and sessions court (Pocso) granted bail to a juvenile in connection with the alleged carjack-ing and murder of Amity University student Akshay Kalra in 2020.
Akshay lived with his parents in Stellar Park apartments in Sector 62. Around 10.30pm on September 2, 2020, he had left home in a white Hyundai Creta for a ride in the neighbourhood. At 12.45am, the family received a call that some unknown miscreants had attacked him and snatched the car. Akshay was admitted to Fortis Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries after a few days.
Initially, police had registered a case under Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the IPC and then added Section 302 (murder) to the FIR. Seven persons were arrested on October 27 that year and the stolen car was recovered from them. On December 22, another youth was picked up and police claimed they were all members of a carjacking gang active across NCR.
The eighth youth was declared a juvenile on October 6, 2021. His father moved a bail application, which was rejected by the juven-ile justice board on April 6 this year.
He then moved the Pocso court against the board’s order. The additional district and sessions judge (Pocso), Manoj Kumar, accepted the bail application. “The juvenile board’s order dated April 6, 2022 is cancelled. The suspect is released on bail after submitting a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. The appellant will look after the suspect and ensure he is not indulged in any criminal activity. The suspect will be produced in court whenever required,” the bail order, released on May 11, read.
Vinod Kumar, the SHO of Sector 58 police station, said the other accused were all in judicial custody.
Akshay’s father Gulshan Kalra said on Monday he had visited the juvenile court for a hearing. “They have recorded my statement. All I want is a speedy trial and swift justice,” he added.