3 get life term for 2012 murder of man who was trying to save relative

Bareilly: The court of the additional district and sessions judge in Shahjahanpur has sentenced three members of a family to life imprisonment for the murder of a man in the district's Nigohi area in March 2012. Vishwanath Singh, 48, who worked as an operator of a govt water pump, was shot dead while returning home with his two sons and brother-in-law, Vijay Singh, after visiting relatives on Holi, March 8, 2012. The accused were targeting Vijay over a land dispute, but Vishwanath ended up getting shot in the chest while trying to save him.
Additional district govt counsel (ADGC) Shashi Mohan Singh told TOI that an FIR was registered against six people at Nigohi police station based on a complaint by Vishwanath's son, Neeru Singh. The accused — Vinod Singh, his brother Pramod Singh, and their cousins Ramveer Singh, Jaiveer, Sukhveer, and Omveer Singh — faced charges under sections of murder and rioting. All were arrested and later granted bail in 2018. During the trial, Ramveer Singh died of natural causes.
The ADGC added that since the murder took place in broad daylight, the incident triggered panic in the area and the case was listed under ‘Mission Conviction'-- a state-wide initiative by UP Police to fast-track criminal trials and improve conviction rates for serious offences.
"We ensured that all the evidence was presented before the court. The victim's sons were also eyewitnesses, and the ballistic report confirmed that the bullet recovered from his body was fired from the country-made weapon recovered from Vinod," said the ADGC.
After examining the evidence, the bench of Justice Neha Anand found Jaiveer, Omveer, and Vinod (all in their mid-30s) guilty of murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment on Friday. It also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on each convict. Vinod was also convicted under the Arms Act while Sukhveer and Pramod Singh were acquitted due to lack of evidence.