Real culprits not punished, says Dubey's family

The family of National Highway Authority of India whistleblower Satyendra Dubey, whose murder in 2003 had sparked nationwide outrage, said on Saturday that it was not happy with the sentencing of three people in the case as "real culprits" are yet to be punished.

"We are not satisfied with the outcome of the case. We are not happy the way the case was handled. The people who have been sentenced today are not the real culprits," Dhananjay Dubey, brother of Satyendra, said.

On whether they were considering filing an appeal in a superior court, he said all available options are being considered.

"We are considering all options. We are consulting our advocate," Dubey said.

The family members were not present in court when the three persons were today sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Central Bureau of Investigation judge in Patna for murdering Dubey, who had exposed corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral highway project in Bihar, during a robbery attempt in 2003.

Asked who the family suspected was behind the murder, Dubey said the "real culprits" have not been punished.

"We cannot pinpoint anybody. So many people were involved -- the contractors, the consultants, some others also. The real culprits have gone scot free," he said.

Satyendra, a project engineer of the NHAI who had exposed several cases of large-scale flouting of rules and corrupt practices in the construction project, was gunned down in the early hours of November 27, 2003, in front of the Circuit House in Gaya when he was going to his residence after alighting from train from Varanasi.

The murder had sparked protests across the country amidst calls for a legislation to protect whistleblowers who expose corruption.