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Journalism of Courage
Justice done,says tea-vendor who was shot at for being an eyesore to a proposed food mall
Ek mota sa gaddi,ek accha takia,aur ek kambal vej dena jail me. Aur tum bilkul fikr mat karo. Hum sab samhal lenge, Haldirams owner Prabhu Shankar Agarwal told his wife as he emerged from the courtroom today with a life term. Agarwals wife looked depressed but not shattered.
Justice caught up with Agarwal and his associates when Judge Tapan Sen,of the 4th Fast-Track City Civil Court at Bankshall handed down life terms for all the five convicted in the case. The other four are Arun Khandelwal,promoter and developer and Haldirams associate,Gopal Tiwari,Manoj Sharma and Rajiv Sonkar,the three contract killers hired by Agarwal.
Agarwal,Khandelwal and Sonkar,Tiwari and Sharma were convicted under Sections 120B,307/34 of IPC. Tiwari was booked and convicted on additional charges under Sections 27/25 of the Arms Act. Sharmas wife Renu fainted outside inside the court premises when she learnt her husband would be behind bars for the rest of his life.
After the sentencing today,all five convicts were whisked away in prison vans to Alipore Central Jail where they would be kept for the time being. Hundreds of curious onlookers thronged the court compound and security was beefed up before the sentence was pronounced.
The case dates back to 2005,when Agarwal tried to eliminate one Pramod Sharma,who ran a tea stall near a Haldiram’s outlet in Burrabazar,Kolkata’s business hub. Agarwal wanted to set up a food mall and Pramod’s tea stall was standing as an eyesore. He initially tried to pay off Pramod,but when he refused to accept the money and shift,Agarwal hired killers to do the job. Pramod was shot on his left leg on February 12,2005.
At one point of time during the trial stage,allegations flew against the delay in pursuing the case following which it was shifted to a fast-track court.
Significantly,it was the last judgment for Sen,who retires as a judge on January 31.
Hailing the life terms,Ashok Bashi,the public prosecutor,said: “It is a message to the society that money and muscle power cannot rule everything. To evict a poor tea-stall owner,an industrialist of Prabhu Agarwal’s stature played a dirty game. If the administration and prosecuting agencies work responsibly and if the court is sensitive,justice will never be denied.”
Meanwhile,Shahid Imam (he was the defense counsel for Aftab Ansari in the American Center attack case),who appeared for Gopal Tiwari in this case,said: “The judgment is very harsh. We will challenge it.”
Tiwari,who faces 16 cases of extortion and Arms Act cases and a murder case, had contested the Assembly polls in 2001 as a Shiv Sena candidate from Jorabagan constituency. After his conviction a few days ago,Tiwari told the court: “Once I had contested as a Shiv Sena candidate. That is the reason why the state government has framed me in this case.”
Agarwal told the court,”I am innocent. I have 1,000 families to run which include all my employees. I will take whatever punishment the court will decide for me.”
Sharma,the tea-vendor who was untraceable earlier on Friday,was back at his stall in the evening. “God has given me justice,” he said. Asked if he feared reprisals,he said,”When the almighty is on my side,I need not fear any thing.”
