A local Gaya court today convicted Rocky Yadav, son of suspended JD(U) MLC Manorama Devi, and three others, in the sensational Aditya Sachdeva murder case. The court said that it will pronounce the quantum of punishment on September 6.
Additional district judge Sachchidanad Singh passed the order holding Rakesh Kumar Ranjan alias Rocky, his father Bindi Yadav, cousin Teni Yadav and his mother's security guard Rajesh Kumar as guilty under various sections of the IPC. While Rocky Yadav was found guilty of IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 427 (mischief causing damage) and section 27 of the Arms Act, Bindi Yadav has been held guilty under sections 212 (harbouring the offender) and 177 (furnishing false information).
Teni Yadav and Rajesh Kumar have been found guilty under sections applicable in the case of Rocky Yadav. All the four convicts were taken into custody soon after pronouncement of verdict and sent to Gaya central jail under tight security, police said.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at Aditya’s residence in Gaya.
Speaking to India TV Thursday morning, the class 12th student’s mother Chanda Sachdeva had said that the she was opposed to capital punishment being awarded to Rocky because she ‘knows the pain of losing a son’.
“He should be punished for the crime he committed, but I don’t want death sentence for him. He is also son of a mother… I know the pain when a mother loses his son,” she said.
Yadav had shot dead Aditya (19) on May 7 last year after overtaking his car. According to police, Aditya and his friends had overtaken Rocky's SUV while returning from a birthday party. Angered over Aditya overtaking his vehicle, Rocky chased him and then killed him.
The incident had triggered national outrage, particularly since Yadav’s mother was a leader of the ruling party and critics accused CM Nitish Kumar of going slow on the case.
Rakesh Ranjan Yadav alias Rocky was arrested on May 11, 2016 for shooting dead Aditya. He was granted bail on October 19, 2016, by the Patna High Court which noted that co-accused Rajesh Kumar has already been granted bail.
The Bihar government had challenged the High Court's order and sought the cancellation of bail granted to Rocky Yadav contending that "he has shot dead a young boy on the highway because he could not tolerate a small Swift car overtaking his big and imported Land Rover".
The apex court on October 28 had stayed the High Court order of bail and sent Rocky Yadav back to jail. The petition had said that while granting bail to Rocky Yadav, the High Court "conveniently" ignored the "vital fact" that the bail has been granted to the co-accused only on the ground that Rocky, and not him, is the main accused.
