THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Nov 25: Four convicts found guilty of killing TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008 were sentenced to life in jail by the Saket Court in Delhi on Saturday.
Life sentences of four accused will run consecutively
Following their recent conviction under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder) and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for committing organised crime that resulted in the death of any person, the court sentenced Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar to life imprisonment.
During the pronouncement of the verdict in the case, Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey ordered that the sentences for the four accused will be served consecutively.
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Fifth convict fined Rs 7.25 lakhs, sentence set off
Ajay Sethi, the fifth convict in the case, has been given a sentence of three years in prison.
He was previously found guilty of conspiring to abetting, aiding in, or intentionally facilitating organized crime as well as accepting the proceeds of organized crime under IPC Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and MCOCA provisions.
Ajay Sethi, one of the convicts, was fined Rs 7.25 lakh by the court. However, the court offset his sentence as he had already served a significant portion of the imprisonment term in connection to the case.
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Court called for PSR before handing quantum of sentence
On October 26, the court asked for a pre-sentence report (PSR) before determining the extent of the sentence. The responsibility of presenting the PSR was instructed to be assigned to any Probationary Officer (PO) by the Delhi government’s principal secretary.
Additional Sessions Judge Pandey had previously rendered a verdict, convicting Ravi Kapoor, Ajay Kumar, Baljeet Malik, and Amit Shukla for the crime of murder and the operation of a criminal syndicate under MCOCA.
Ajay Sethi, another accused, was found guilty of acquiring proceeds from criminal activities.
Soumya was shot dead on Sept 30, 2008
TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan was fatally shot on September 30, 2008, as she was commuting home in her car around 3:30 am after work. The police had asserted that the motive for her killing was robbery.
