Court to pronounce quantum of punishment today

PRAYAGRAJ : The sessions court will on Monday pronounce quantum of punishment in the sensational the then SP MLA Jawahar Pandit aka Jawahar Yadav’s murder which took place here 23 years ago.

Earlier on Thursday, the court held former MP Kapil Muni Karwariya and his two brothers namely former MLA Udaybhan Karwariya and former MLC Surajbhan Karwariya besides one Ram Chandra alias Kallu guilty of the murder.On August 13, 1996, Jawahar Pandit, the then SP MLA, was sprayed with bullets from an AK-47 rifle in the Civil Lines area of Prayagraj when he was going to railway station.

The prosecution presented 18 witnesses while the defence presented 156 witnesses. For last two years, on the instructions of the Allahabad high court, hearing in the case was going on a day-today basis.

The initial investigation was carried out by the Uttar Pradesh police and later it was transferred to CB-CID.The murder had not only caused ripples in power corridors of the state but also caused terror among citizens many of whom had never heard about sophisticated AK-47 rifle used in the shootout.

It was the first time in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) that the deadly AK-47 rifle was used in a crime.

Police had found marks of 16 bullets on the car of the politician during the investigation.

In his statement, Jawahar Yadav’s brother-in-law and witness Ramlochan Yadav had told the court that the accused who were standing over a distance of three feet fled the scene after firing hundred of shots on the car.

The accused did not either enter Yadav’s vehicle or put the barrel of their guns inside the window. Ramlochan further said he and others raised an alarm and called for help.

However, panic prevailed soon after shots were fired in broad daylight and people ran away in all directions to save themselves.

THE INITIAL PROBE WAS CARRIED OUT BY THE UTTAR PRADESH POLICE AND LATER IT WAS TRANSFERRED TO CB-CID