A Delhi session court on Tuesday found Haryana cadre Indian Police Service officer RK Sharma guilty alongwith three others for conspiring and killing the Indian Express journalist Shivani Bhatnagar that was held nine years ago in her East Delhi apartment. The court has acquitted two accused out of six due to lack of evidence.
Hearing the trial of Shivani Bhatnagar murder case that was running for more than six years has come to the climax point as the Delhi court found Ravi Kant Sharma, IPS, Sri Bhagwan, the son of a close ally of R K Sharma, Satya Prakash, Pradeep, a computer engineer and a contract killer for plotting the murder case while the rest of others, excluding RK Sharma for both plotting and performing the murder.
With the end of Tuesday’s trial, the court has found the appalling murder as a pre-planned and cold-blooded. For this the guilty may see a range of punishments from life imprisonment to death penalty depending upon the role played by the convicted. The final judgement would begin from the next hearing slated on March 20, 2008.
R K Sharma has been convicted under Sections 302, 120B and 201 while his three accomplices, Sri Bhagwan, Satya Prakash and Pradeep have been convicted with the charges of murder and destruction of evidence.
The police has framed six persons including Sharma in this murder case under the charges of Section 302 (murder), 120 B (conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 403 and 404 (dishonest misappropriation of property) under Indian Penal Code.
Apart from these charges, police has also framed a separate charge over Pradeep for stealing the deceased’s gold chain, mobile and camera after performing murder to mislead the police for showing it as a robbery plot.
According to police, “Pradeep has strangled Shivani with an electric wire and later stabbed her with kitchen knife.” He had allegedly inflicted 10 brutal stabs on her, as police claimed during the trial.
The two accused who got acquittal were Ved Prakash Sharma and Ved alias Kalu, who were called by R K Sharma for a meeting in hotel Ashoka for conspiring the murder plot. They got amnesty due to insufficient proof and lack of evidence.
As per police 45-page chargesheet, the two men entered in Shivani’s flat on January 23, 1999 with a pack of sweet-box and introduced themselves to Shivani as the colleagues of Rakesh Bhatnagar (her husband). They had tea with her and then suddenly Pradeep, one of them (as police claims on the basis of fingerprints found over knife) strangulated Shivani with an electric wire and stabbed 10 fatal blows on her body.
Sri Bhagwan was the first accused arrested by the police on July 23, 2002, after almost three and half years of crime. However, police has filed the chargesheet on November 2002 on the lead given by Sri Bhagwan that pointed out R K Sharma, the main accused of murder case who was being black-mailed by Shivani for exposing him before the media and police, had he denied to marry with her.
Later police arrested all the five accused except R K Sharma, who escaped from his residence and later surrendered himself before the Ambala court on September 27, 2002.
This six-year old murder trial has seen four judges, 209 witnesses and more than 20,000 pages of still-running records. There were so many twists and turns came in the way of this case since as many as 51 witnesses turned hostile during the trial period and some political connection were also found to be seen related to this case.
This case was hovering with the clouds of uncertainty at one time but when Madhu Sharma, the wife of prime accused R K Sharma alleged Shivani’s close association with Late. Pramod Mahajan, (one of the top BJP leader of that time), it unfolded the case to an extent, but the alleged relationship could not be proved further.
The highlights of the case as per police chargesheet:
Shivani Bhatnagar (29) was a principal correspondent with the Indian Express and living with her husband Rakesh Bhatnagar and two-month old baby in Nav-Nikunj apartment (East Delhi).
R K Sharma, the prime accused was once appointed at the PM office as an officer on special duty during July 1997 and April 1998.
Once, Shivani Bhatnagar contacted R K Sharma for leaking classified documents from Prime Minister’s Office.
To put back the document in the prime minister’s office, R K Sharma contacted Sri Bhagwan, the son of an SHO who worked under Sharma.
The illegal relationship had been developed during this period between Shivani Bhatnagar and R K Sharma, but later some dispute occurred between them, because of which Shivani forced Sharma to marry her.
Shivani had also threatened Sharma to expose their relationship and the matter of leaking documents from the PMO in case of not being married to her. Sharma was feeling ‘insecure’ as his career and marriage-life was about to fall into ruins.
For clearing the obstacle of his way, Sharma communicated to Sri Bhagwan who had further communicated to Satya Prakash who runs a restaurant in Gurgaon and Pradeep who was a qualified engineer.
Satya Prakash promised Pradeep to provide him Rs. 3,00,000 and a job with Haryana Development Authority, if he successfully performs Shivani’s murder.
On December 24, 1998, Sharma called the co-conspirators Sri Bhagwan, Satya Prakash, Ved Prakash Sharma and Ved alias Kalu at the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi for knitting the conspiracy web and he had also called Shivani there for personal meeting, so that the accused can also recognise her.
On January 23, 1999 the murder took place in Shivani’s flat. On the other hand, to protect him, R K Sharma organised so-called official meeting with the senior police officials, but Police claimed it never took place as he played a drama for making it a strong alibi.
The police first arrested Sri Bhagwan and then on his revelations they picked up another suspect Pradeep on August 2. The police nabbed the third suspect Satya Prakash on August 17.
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