Five sentenced to life for ‘stoning’ friend to death

Ludhiana: A local court has sentenced five persons to life imprisonment for murder of a man. The court of additional sessions Judge Dr Rajneesh also imposed a fine of Rs.30,000 each on the convicts. On October 25, 2022, Daba police had booked Dharamjit Mishra, Anuj Kumar, Amit Kumar, all of Mohalla Gurmail Nagar, Vishal of Mohalla Prem Nagar and Sagarpal of Mohalla Mahan Maya Nagar under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention related) of IPC for killing Jham Kumar.As per prosecution, on the date, SI Amrinder Singh along with another police official was on patrolling duty searching for suspicious persons in the area of Police Station Daba, Ludhiana. During patrolling, he received information from the control room that a dead body was found in a vacant plot at Maha Maya Nagar under Daba police station Ludhiana. Police immediately reached the spot where Din Dyal Chaudhary, father of deceased and Bheem Chaudhary, brother of the deceased were present.Din Dyal Chaudhary, who worked as labourer, late recorded statement with police wherein he stated that his youngest son Jham Kumar was unemployed and used to stay at home. On October 24 , 2022 at about 9.15 am, when he returned home and asked his wife about Jham Kumar, she informed that he had gone somewhere with his friends at around 8.30 pm. The complainant also stated that his son used to consumer alcohol with his friends and often came home late at night and sometimes even the next day. At about 2.05 am, he woke up on hearing screams. He went to the roof of his house and saw five persons beating his son in the vacant plot behind his house. When he along with his son Bheem Chaudhary went to the vacant plot, they saw Dharamjit, Anuj, Amit, Kala and Sagar Pal throwing bricks at Jham. On seeing the complainant and Bheem Chaudhary, the accused persons fled from the spot. Jham Kumar was lying dead on the ground.Gambling debt as murder motivePolice later booked the accused and arrested them. It then presented chargesheet against the accused in the court. During trial of the case, the accused pleaded false implication in the case. Later the complainant deposed before the court that He was known to all the accused as they were friends of his son. Bheem Chaudhary, brother of deceased deposed that when he and his father requested the assailants boys to leave his brother Jham Kumar, they were saying that he had spent the money earned by them in gambling.The court after appreciating the evidence on record observed that the enmity, as disclosed by the brother of the deceased, i.e., the motive behind the murder, stands duly proved. The court held that it is proved that at the time, place and manner as suggested by it, all the accused being members of unlawful assembly, armed with deadly weapons inflicted injuries on the person of Jham Kumar which led to his death. "The oral evidence is duly supported by the medical one. Due investigation has been conducted in this case. Any kind of material lapse has not come on record."