Date:17/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/17/stories/2008041754420400.htm

New Delhi

4 get lifer for killing driver

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A court here has sentenced four persons to rigorous life imprisonment for killing a taxi driver and taking the vehicle to Bihar eight years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge V.P. Vaish also slapped a fine of Rs. 4,000 each on Chintu Malhotra, Gyan Chand Kashyap, Mohammad Tayyab Alam and Dharminder Singh.

The court said recovery of the missing vehicle at Purnia in Bihar from the accused and the fact that they had not been able to prove that they had left the vehicle after the driver Kishan Kumar was last seen alive on August 26 proved their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Taxi to Hardwar

According to the prosecution, the four accused had hired a Maruti van from Kaushik Travels in West Delhi to go to Hardwar on August 26, 2000. The driver of the vehicle was Kishan Kumar and he took up the duty in the presence of his son Jitender.

Jitender lodged a complaint with the local police on August 28 when his father did not return.

A day later, the police informed him about the arrest of the four persons along with the vehicle at Purnia and also that his father had been killed.