Jaunpur: Former MP from Jaunpur Dhananjay Singh and his aide were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment along with a penalty of Rs 50,000 each by a special court here on Wednesday in almost four-year-old kidnapping and extortion case, a prosecution counsel said here.
Assistant District Government Counsel (ADGC) Lal Bahadur Pal said that on May 10, 2020, Abhinav Singhal, who was working as project manager in Namami Gange scheme in Jaunpur, lodged a case at Line Bazar police station against former MP Dhananjay Singh and his accomplice Santosh Vikram Singh on charges of kidnapping, extortion, criminal conspiracy and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
He said that the MP-MLA court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sharad Kumar Tripathi had held Dhananjay and Santosh Vikram Singh guilty on Tuesday.
Pal said that while pronouncing the quantum of judgement the court sentenced Dhananjay and Vikram to 7 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000 for kidnapping, 5 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000, 1 year rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000 for intentional insult, 2 years rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs 15,000 and 7 years rigorous imprisonment with penalty of Rs 50,000 for criminal conspiracy.
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He said that the court has ordered that all the sentences will run concurrently as the time spent in jail will be adjusted in the punishment period.
Earlier, Dhananjay Singh was brought to the court from jail amid tight security arrangements. The entire court premises was turned into a fortress and vigil was being done through drones.
The court in its observation said that the accused in the case is a former MP against whom several criminal cases were lodged. It said that while the complainant in the case was an employee of a private company, Satya Prakash Yadav was a junior engineer in the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam.
The court said that calling such persons during duty hours or sending someone to fetch him comes under the category of crime. "The accused failed to prove that he had the right to call the complainant and the JE of Jal Nigam to his house. If the complainant had no fear or pressure from the accused side then why did he call his higher officials immediately after the incident, meet the SP and file a complaint at the police station," it said.
The court said that the case is completely proved against the accused. In its order it said the prosecution has been able to prove beyond doubt through oral, documentary and circumstantial evidence that on May 10, 2020 the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy with a common intention to kidnap and murder the complainant Abhinav Singhal.
In such a situation, Dhananjay Singh and Santosh Vikram Singh deserve to be convicted for the crime, it said.
Prosecution sources said that after being convicted by the court former MP Dhananjay and his aide Santosh Vikram were sent back to Jaunpur jail amid tight security arrangements. (UNI)
