LUCKNOW: A CBI court handed concurrent life sentences Wednesday to the hired shooter convicted last week of murdering two chief medical officers of UP months apart 13 years ago, leading to the unravelling of the National Rural Health Mission scam that triggered the fall of the then Mayawati-led BSP govt.
Anand Prakash Tiwari, whose declaration of "kaam ho gaya (work is done)" during phone calls to an intermediary had been cited as evidence in the case, shot and killed Dr V K Arya at Lucknow's Vikas Nagar in Oct 2010 and Dr B P Singh at Gomtinagar in April 2011.
Special judge Anurodh Mishra sentenced Tiwari to life imprisonment separately for the twin murders under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and the Arms Act. The court also fined him Rs 58,000.
Two other accused, Ram Krishna Verma and Vinod Sharma, were acquitted for want of evidence in June 28 verdict. They were asked to deposit sureties of Rs 1 lakh each under Section 437A of CrPC, meant to ensure they appear before a higher court if someone appeals their acquittal.
Arya was the CMO of family welfare when he was targeted at the behest of then Lucknow deputy CMO Dr Y S Sachan, who died under mysterious circumstancesin 2011.
CBI took over the investigation on the orders of Allahabad HC. The CBI chargesheet said the murders were part of a cover-up for the scam. According to the prosecution, Sachan hired shooters Tiwari and Sharma through Verma to kill his two colleagues.
Anand Prakash Tiwari, whose declaration of "kaam ho gaya (work is done)" during phone calls to an intermediary had been cited as evidence in the case, shot and killed Dr V K Arya at Lucknow's Vikas Nagar in Oct 2010 and Dr B P Singh at Gomtinagar in April 2011.
Special judge Anurodh Mishra sentenced Tiwari to life imprisonment separately for the twin murders under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and the Arms Act. The court also fined him Rs 58,000.
Two other accused, Ram Krishna Verma and Vinod Sharma, were acquitted for want of evidence in June 28 verdict. They were asked to deposit sureties of Rs 1 lakh each under Section 437A of CrPC, meant to ensure they appear before a higher court if someone appeals their acquittal.
Arya was the CMO of family welfare when he was targeted at the behest of then Lucknow deputy CMO Dr Y S Sachan, who died under mysterious circumstancesin 2011.
CBI took over the investigation on the orders of Allahabad HC. The CBI chargesheet said the murders were part of a cover-up for the scam. According to the prosecution, Sachan hired shooters Tiwari and Sharma through Verma to kill his two colleagues.
