Four get life term for killing witness in pond poisoning case

Additional District Government Counsel Santosh Srivastava said on Sunday that a person named Raees Mohammad had in 2017 testified against those accused of killing fish by poisoning Chhote Khan's pond in Ladpur village under the Bhutta police station area in Bareilly.

Bareilly, UP: A court here has sentenced four persons to life imprisonment for killing a man who was a witness in a case related to the poisoning of a pond that led to the death of a large number of fish.

Additional District Government Counsel Santosh Srivastava said on Sunday that a person named Raees Mohammad had in 2017 testified against those accused of killing fish by poisoning Chhote Khan's pond in Ladpur village under the Bhutta police station area here.

Bhure Khan, who was accused of poisoning the pond, held a grudge against Raees Mohammad for this.

And on May 10, 2017, he -- along with his brothers Ibrar, Kalua Khan and Irfan and another person named Lalla Jaan -- fired shots at Rahees Mohammad when he was returning home from Bhagwantapur village after buying some goods, Srivastava said.

Mohammad fell from his motorcycle after being hit by the bullets fired from a country-made pistol. After which, the attackers dragged him into a field and attacked him with an axe, killing him on the spot.

Srivastava said that Additional Sessions Judge Kumar Gaurav on Saturday convicted Bhure Khan, Ibrar, Kalua Khan and Lalla Jaan and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

The ADGC said that the police had removed the name of another accused in the case -- Irfan -- from the charge sheet filed in the court. But the court summoned Irfan as well and said that it has the right to summon the accused who has been left out of the chargesheet. The case will be tried against him as well.

Srivastava also said there is sufficient evidence in the case and hence the accused who has been excluded from the charge sheet should also be summoned.

The defence said that Irfan was ill, but the court rejected his plea for exemption from attendance and issued an arrest warrant against him, Srivastava said.