Noida: An additional sessions court awarded life imprisonment to seven people, including a father-son duo, for killing a teenager by shooting him in the head and the attempted murder of two others in 2023 in Mohvalipur village in Jewar. A fine of Rs 95,000 was also imposed on each, of which 50% will be paid to the victim’s father as compensation.Those convicted and sentenced by the court include Sonu, Kunwar Gaurav, Dharmesh, Ranjit, Nishant, Shivnit, and his son Abhiraj. Additional sessions judge Somprabha Mishra declared them guilty under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly with a common motive), 452 (house-trespass), 506 (criminal intimidation), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempted murder), and awarded life terms u/s 302 (murder) and section 307 (attempted murder).The case dates back to 14th Nov, 2023 when Mohit (14), Narendra (35) and Kapil (40) went to attend Govardhan Puja celebrations at their neighbour Lalit Chouhan’s house. Meanwhile, Lalit had gone to the market for some work where his motorcycle collided with that of Sonu and it led to a heated altercation between them. However, Lalit escaped and went hometo join the celebrations. Hours later, Sonu along with six others, entered Lalit’s house and opened indiscriminate fire, killing Mohit and critically injuring Narendra and Kapil.A case was filed by Mohit’s father Rakesh against eight persons. After investigation, police dropped the name of one of the accused, Shiv Singh, and arrested the remaining the next day. A chargesheet was filed against seven persons and the court framed charges against them on March 12, 2024.The prosecution presented nine witnesses, including the complainant and both injured victims, while the defence produced four.It was revealed that eight people raided the house of Lalit Chouhan around 6.30pm and Sonu shot the first bullet, killing Mohit, while bullets fired by Shivnit and Gaurav injured Kapil and Narendra, respectively.The defence claimed that Gaurav and Sonu were in their garage at the time of the incident and presented witnesses and CCTV camera footage.However, it was found that the footage was tampered with and the dates were edited.“While the accused said that he went to buy sweets and anklets in his car, the witnesses presented on his behalf and the CCTV footage show that he went out on a motorcycle,” the court noted while rejecting his plea.Citing a Supreme Court judgement in Masalati versus state of Uttar Pradesh in 1964, the court held that where the commission of an offence in furtherance of the common object of an unlawful assembly is established, it is not necessary to prove the individual role or act of each accused. Admitting that the police dropped one of the names in its investigation, the court pronounced the remaining seven persons guilty on Jan 9 and heard the matter for deciding the quantum of sentence on Jan 13.
