New Delhi: A Delhi court has sentenced a man
to life imprisonment for seeking to escape punishment in
several criminal cases by portraying himself as dead by
burning alive a vagabond and placing his own clothes on the
charred body.
Additional Sessions Judge VK Bansal convicted Karma, a
Punjab native, saying "it is a unique case, where the convict
faced trial for his own murder."
"The facts emerged are repeated here again that he
(Karma) killed one innocent person, who was sleeping on
footpath, put his clothes on the person of that fellow and
burnt him," the court added.
Detailing the convict`s act of planting his identity
card, wallet etc, the court said, "He has done it to screen
himself from the punishment of crime of murder and other
offences committed by him."
"Keeping in view all the evidence, in my opinion, there
was a strong motive with Karma to kill some person and get
that dead body identified as that of Karma," the judge said.
According to police, Karma was facing trial in seven
other cases under various sections of Indian Penal Code,
including attempt to murder, besides those of the NDPS Act and
the Excise Act.
Karma along with co-accused Satnam killed a 32-year-old
vagabond, sleeping on a footpath under influence of liquor on
May 21, 2010 night, police said, adding they took him near
Bhalswa Jheel and burnt him.
PTI
