16 years after Kanpur TV journalist’s murder, court sentences four to life imprisonment

According to government counsel Gaurendra Tripathi, the court, after examining nine prosecution witnesses, found the accused guilty. It sentenced Kanika Grover — who worked as a newsreader in the same television channel where the victim was employed — her two brothers Sunny and Munni, and their friend Surjeet Singh alias Shunty to life imprisonment.

The court also awarded five years of imprisonment to Kanika’s mother, Alka Grover, and her uncle, Rajeev Kumar, for their role in destroying evidence related to the case.

No defence counsel was examined.

All six accused, who had been out on bail during the trial, were taken into custody on Tuesday after the court pronounced them guilty. “They have been sent to jail,” said Tripathi.

According to the prosecution, the case dates back to June 14, 2009, when a resident of Ratanlal Nagar noticed a car bearing a “Press” sticker parked in the locality for a long time. Finding it suspicious, he alerted his friends and later informed the police. When the car door was opened, the police discovered the body of Brijesh inside.

Brijesh’s brother, Prabhat Kumar, subsequently lodged a complaint at Govind Nagar police station. He said Brijesh had told him that he was going to drop Kanika and the others home and would return.

When Brijesh did not return home that night, his family began searching for him. On June 14, they received information about a car matching his vehicle’s description parked near Ratanlal Nagar. When they reached the spot, they found Brijesh’s body. His licenced firearm and gold ornaments were missing.

Tripathi said during investigation, police found that Kanika and her family held a grudge against Brijesh as he had allegedly been harassing Kanika regularly.

Acting on a tip off, police first arrested Surjeet; he admitted to the crime during questioning, leading to the arrest of other accused, said Tripathi.

“The investigation revealed that the accused had killed Brijesh at their house, after which they wrapped his body in a cloth and placed it in his car,” said Tripathi.

He added that the accused, including Kanika’s mother, tried to clean the bloodstains from the scene to destroy evidence. Later, Kanika’s uncle drove the car to Ratanlal Nagar and parked it there before fleeing the spot.

District Government Counsel (Kanpur) Dilip Awasthi said Kanika’s family also suspected that Brijesh had falsely implicated her father in a criminal case, which further deepened their resentment against him.

Defence counsel Deen Dayal Prajpati said they would file an appeal against the judgment.

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