Jaunpur: Ex-MP, aide convicted of kidnapping official

Dhananjay Singh has over 35 criminal cases registered against him and in several cases, he has been acquittet. M

This is the first case in which Dhanjanay Singh has been convicted.

On Wednesday, Dhananjay Singh and his aide Santosh Vikram Singh were brought to the court from the Jaunpur jail amid tight police security.

“Dhananjay Singh and his aide Santosh Vikram Singh have been sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the case. The court also imposed fine on them,” said District Government Counsel, Jaunpur, Satish Kumar Pandey.

Six prosecution witnesses were examined by the court. The complainant did not support the prosecution’s account, after which he was declared hostile, said Pandey, adding, “The court passed the judgment on the basis of evidence collected in the case.”

The court had held Dhananjay Singh and Santosh Vikram Singh guilty under IPC sections 364 (Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 386 (Extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), added Pandey.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the court held Dhananjay Singh and Santosh Vikram guilty after which they were taken into custody and later sent to jail.

Dhananjay Singh’s lawyer Rahul Tiwari said, “ We will file an appeal against the judgment.”

The case stemmed from an FIR registered on May 10, 2020, on the basis of a complaint by the project manager of Jal Nigam, Abhinav Singhal. Singhal, responsible for overseeing a multimillion-dollar sewage treatment plant project, alleged that the accused aimed to secure the contract for material supply in the construction of the sewage treatment plant. Vikram, one of the accused, had summoned Singhal to meet Dhananjay Singh at his residence in Jaunpur. Singhal further alleged that Vikram and his two accomplices abducted him at gunpoint and took him to Dhananjay Singh’s residence, where he was held captive for over an hour and threatened at gunpoint.

Dhananjay Singh, who won the 2002 Assembly elections as an Independent from the Rari seat in Jaunpur, retained it in 2007 as a JD(U) candidate. In 2009, he joined the BSP and secured victory in the parliamentary election from Jaunpur but was expelled from the party before the 2012 Assembly polls.