A SPECIAL CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday handed down a life sentence to a 45-year-old alumnus of IIT, Kanpur, and IIM, Lucknow, for the murder of a Mumbai-based fashion designer, Adesh Bajpai (35), in 2008. Last week, the court held Rahul Verma, who had been out on bail, guilty and he was taken into custody by the police. The court convicted Verma on charges under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender).
On Wednesday, Verma was brought to the court amid police security from the Lucknow jail, where he is lodged. “The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 90,000 on Verma,” said senior public prosecutor Ashish Kumar Saxena. He added that the court examined 44 prosecution witnesses and six defence witnesses.
Notably, the court dropped IPC section 364 (kidnapping) charge against the accused. Advertisement In 2010, the murder case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation following a directive by the Allahabad High Court. The defence counsel, who did not wish to be named, said “We will file an appeal in the High Court against this (Wednesday’s) judgment.
” According to the prosecution, the case dates back to August 20, 2008, when the victim’s father, Surya Kant Bajpai, a retired government employee, filed a missing person complaint in Kanpur. The complainant alleged that his son Adesh, who had travelled to Kanpur for business purposes, had gone missing. During the inves.
