Former MP DP Yadav sentenced to life imprisonment

DEHRADUN: Uttar Pradesh strongman DP Yadav, who was convicted of killing former MLA Mahendra Singh Bhati, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the CBI court in Dehradun. On February 28, Yadav was found guilty of murdering Mahendra Singh Bhati, former MLA from Dadri in Ghaziabad, in 1992.

Yadav, convicted along with three others, was absent from court due to medical reasons at the time of the verdict. The other three accused, Karan Yadav, Praneet Bhatti and Pal Singh, had surrendered on February 28.

Bhati and his close friend Udai Prakash Arya were gunned down by armed assailants on September 13, 1992 at the Dadri railway crossing. Another person, OP Kayal, was injured. The case was transferred to the CBI on September 10, 1993.
In the chargesheet that was submitted in 1996 CBI named eight people, including Yadav, in the murder case. Four of the accused have died in the interim, with the case dragging on for two decades now.

Yadav, Karan Yadav and Bhatti have been convicted under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Singh was also found guilty under section 27 of the Arms Act.