Gangster Sukhdev Pehalwan, the third accused in the Nitish Katara kidnapping-cum-murder case, was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court.
The punishment was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge J.R. Aryan who on July 6 had held him guilty for helping former Rajya Sabha member D.P. Yadav’s son Vikas Yadav and nephew Vishal Yadav in abducting and killing Katara in 2002.
Vikas and Vishal were earlier awarded rigorous life imprisonment for their role in the murder of Katara, a business executive and son of an IAS officer.
Pehalwan has also been fined Rs. 20,000.
His trial was separated from that of Vikas and Vishal as he had jumped bail and was declared an absconder. His trial started only after his arrest in 2005.
The court had said that Pehalwan was with Vikas and Vishal Yadav during the murder.
According to the prosecution, Pehalwan was present with the Yadavs in their car after they had abducted Katara from a marriage function at Ghaziabad and killed him on the night of February 16, 2002.
He was charge sheeted in April 2006 for murder, abduction and destruction of evidence.
