Trial begins in the murder of judge’s kin

The trial in the case of the murder of the wife and son of additional sessions judge Krishan Kant in October 2018 began in a city court on Friday, with seven out of 81 witnesses recording their statements.

On October 23, 2018, thirtytwo-year-old head constable Mahipal Singh was arrested for allegedly shooting at Kant’s wife and son in broad daylight near Arcadia Market in Sector 49.

The trial began in the court of sessions judge R K Sondhi. Public prosecutor Anurag Hooda said the seven of the witnesses were officers of the Gurugram police and were the in charge of the crime team, which visited the crime spot to collect samples. Prem Shankar Sharma, 55, defence counsel for the accused, also appeared before the court.

According to the 500-page charge sheet, the investigators have relied on the declaration of the judge’s wife, a CCTV footage of the shooting, videos of the incident shared on social media, ballistic expert’s report, recoveries and accounts of eyewitnesses to prepare the list of charges against the accused.

The police said of the 81 witnesses, the testimony of five will be crucial. “The most important witness is a judge from Bihar who allegedly recorded the incident on his cellphone,” said Shamsher Singh, ACP (crime).