New Delhi
A Delhi court recently acquitted two men, including a distant relative of Gurugram Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjit Singh, who were charged with kidnapping the son of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in 2003.
Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey of Saket Court on October 16 acquitted Dheeraj Singh and Vijay Kumar, who were charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 364 A (kidnapping for ransom), 365 (kidnapping with intent to confine a person secretly), and 307 (attempt to murder), after the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mr. Singh was former business associate of Ms. Radia.
The court also expressed shock over the fact that no formal complaint was lodged to the police with local police station and it came on record that the present case was investigated by the officials of Crime Branch without any formal order of the investigation by the Crime Branch.
“Court is of the considered view that prosecution has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt regarding the charge of offences … Accordingly, accused are acquitted …,” the court’s 200-page judgement, dated October 16, said.
Perplexed that no complaint was made in the case, the court said, “It is admitted fact that after the incident, no formal complaint was lodged with the local police station and it came on record that the present case was investigated by the officials of the crime branch without any formal order of the investigation.”
The victim, Karan Radia, who was 18 years old at the time, had claimed in his complaint that he was abducted by the accused in April 2003 from Modern Bazar, in New Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area, on the pretext of showing him their office in Gurgaon.
Published - October 23, 2024 11:22 pm IST
