Zeenews Bureau
Patna: A special CBI court on Saturday awarded life imprisonment each to the three convicts in the Satyendra Kumar Dubey murder case.
The special CBI court in Patna had last Monday convicted Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas for their involvement in the murder of whistle blower Satyendra Dubey, who had exposed corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral highways project in 2003.
Dubey, a 31-year-old graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), was working with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and posted with the Golden Quadrilateral, a pet project of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He was shot dead in the early hours of November 27, 2003 in front of Circuit House, in Bihar’s Gaya district, after he wrote to the Prime Minister`s Office detailing corrupt practices rampant in the project, and a nexus among corrupt officials, politicians and contractors.
His murder sparked protests across the country amidst calls for a legislation to protect whistleblowers who expose corruption.
The CBI, which had taken over the investigation of the case from Bihar police on December 14, 2003, had filed a chargesheet in the case on September 3, 2004.
Mantu was convicted under Sections for murder, voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery and the Arms Act for possessing unlicensed weapon.
The other two accused persons were convicted for murder committed in furtherance of common intention and for voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery.
"During the investigation, CBI arrested four persons, namely Mantu, Udai, Pinku and Sharvan Kumar, all residents of Katari village in Gaya, Bihar,” a CBI statement had said on the day of the verdict.
"They had all assembled near Circuit House, Gaya on the fateful intervening night of November 26/27, 2003 and around 3.30 am on November 27. When Dubey was passing in front of Circuit House, Gaya in a cycle-rickshaw, the accused persons robbed him of his belongings and during the ensuing scuffle, Mantu shot him dead with a .315 country-made weapon," the statement said.
The CBI said a briefcase containing documents belonging to Dubey, including his identity card, were recovered from an abandoned well and also the country-made pistol were recovered during investigation.
The agency said Sharvan gave full and voluntary disclosure about the incident and was made an approver.
