Man awarded life term for murder of businessman in Panchkula
The court held Tarun Kumar, a resident of Jind Road, Rohtak, guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code
A local court has awarded life term to a 47-year-old man for strangling a businessman to death in Panchkula in 2020.
The court held Tarun Kumar, a resident of Jind Road, Rohtak, guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for life, the court also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 under Section 302. He was also awarded one-year RI and fined ₹1,000 under Section 201. Both sentences will run concurrently.
As per case files, on June 11, 2020, police received a call that the body of an unknown person was lying near the gate of Eco City, Alipur, Panchkula.
The witness, Rajpal, alleged that he was employed as a watchman in Eco City and around 1.45 pm, he was taking out stray cows from the gate and saw a body lying upside down in a ditch on the southern side of Eco City.
An FIR for murder was subsequently registered at the Chandimandir police station. On June 15, the body was identified to be of Vinod Kumar, alias Bunty, a resident of Abohar, Punjab, by Varinder Kumar, brother of the deceased, on the basis of his photographs and clothes.
The call detail records were analysed and the accused, Tarun Kumar, was arrested.
Tarun had allegedly fought with the victim over a dispute involving ₹15 lakh, leading to his murder.
In his disclosure statement to the police, Tarun demarcated the place where the deceased was murdered and the place where his body was abandoned in conspiracy with accused Lucky and Deepanshu, alias Chhota.
Tarun also demarcated Hotel Signia, Baltana, Zirakpur, where he stayed prior to committing the murder.
He demarcated Hotel Redwood, Baltana, Zirakpur, where he arranged the stay of the co-accused with his identity proof. His cellphone was recovered from his house in Rohtak, along with the Honda WRV car used in the commission of the offence. The other two accused were also arrested, but later acquitted. Tarun was chargesheeted under Sections 302, 201 and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Over four years after the murder, he was convicted on October 24 and sentenced on October 29.
