4 convicted for murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan

More than 15 years after television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan was shot dead during a robbery bid at the heart of the national capital, a Delhi court on Wednesday convicted four persons of an organised crime syndicate for murder and other offences, saying charges against them are "duly proved beyond all reasonable doubt."

In one of the sensational incidents of 2008, Vishwanathan, who was working with a leading English news channel in New Delhi, was shot dead in the wee hours of September 30 on Nelson Mandela Marg while she was returning home from work.

Police had claimed that the motive behind the killing was robbery.

Additional sessions judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey convicted Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar for offence of murder and common intention under the IPC.

They were also held guilty under provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act for committing organised crime resulting in death of the person and the offences entail death penalty as the maximum sentence.

The court also convicted fifth accused Ajay Sethi under section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and MCOCA provisions for conspiring to abet, aid or knowingly facilitate organised crime and for receiving the proceeds of organised crime.

The court would hear arguments on quantum punishment to be awarded to the convicts on October 26.

Pronouncing the operative part of the verdict in a packed courtroom, ASJ Pandey said, "The court is of the considered view that prosecution has duly proved beyond all reasonable doubt that accused Ravi Kapoor and his other associates, co-accused Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar and Baljeet Malik had committed the murder of the deceased or victim Saumya Vishwanathan with the intention to rob her on September 30, 2008, in between 3:25 AM and 3:55 AM at Nelson Mandela Marg."

The court, in its 261-page judgement, dealt with the testimonies of 97 prosecution witnesses in a case which hinged on circumstantial evidence and said the four accused were found guilty and convicted under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention).

"The prosecution has also duly proved beyond all reasonable doubt the charge of the offence punishable under Section 3 (1) (i) (committing organised crime resulting in the death of any person) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against the accused," the court said.

Regarding the fifth accused, Ajay Sethi, the court said the prosecution had "duly proved beyond all reasonable doubt" that accused Sethi retained "knowingly and intentionally" retained the offending vehicle or car, which was stolen in Vasant Kunj and hence, he was guilty under IPC section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property).

"The prosecution has also duly proved beyond all reasonable doubt that accused Ajay Sethi abetted or knowingly facilitated the commission of organised crime by the organised crime syndicate led by accused Ravi Kapoor... and he also used to hold the property derived or obtained from the proceeds of organised crime.

"Accordingly, he is held guilty and convicted for the charges of the offences punishable under sections 3 (2) (conspiring to abetting, aiding in, or knowingly facilitating organised crime) 3 (5) (holding property derived or obtained from commission of an organised crime or which has been acquired through the organised crime syndicate funds) of MCOCA," the court said.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, the victim's mother Madhavi Viswanathan demanded life imprisonment for all four convicts, saying they should suffer what her family went through.

"We lost our daughter. We demand life terms for convicts, they should suffer what we went through," she said.

Five people were arrested for the murder and they have been in custody since March 2009.

The recovery of the weapon used in IT executive Jigisha Ghosh's killing had led to the cracking of Vishwanathan's murder case, police said.

After Malik moved the Delhi high court in 2019 for a speedy trial, it sought a report from the trial court, asking why the trial had not concluded even though the charge sheet was filed nine-and-a-half years ago.

The trial court had informed the high court that the delay was primarily due to the non-presence of prosecution witnesses and the time taken for the appointment of a special public prosecutor.

The trial court had given the death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla and sentenced Malik to a life term in the Jigisha Ghosh murder case in August 2016.

In January 2018, however, the high court commuted the death sentences of Kapoor and Shukla to life imprisonment and upheld the life term for Malik.