Jharkhand HC upholds lower court's capital punishment

Ranchi, Aug 28 (UNI) Jharhand High Court today upheld the order of a lower court and awarded a death sentence to Ajay Kumar Paul, domestic help of former Ranchi DFO Dhirender Kumar, in connection with the killing of five persons of the officials's family.

The domestic help two years back mixed poison in the food of the DFO's family of five, including Dhirender Kumar's wife Amita alias Ruby. After the victims fell unconscious, they were set on fire.

The family stayed at a locality under Bariatu police station.

A division bench comprising justices D P Singh and D K Sinha found it to be the ''rare of rarest case'' and said the accused should be given capital punishment.

Earlier, the lower court of Numan Ali, was satisfied with the evidence and the witnesses deposed by the complainant and had ordered the accused to be 'hanged till death'.

The Jharkhand government and the complainant were not satisfied with the investigation carried out by the inquiring agency and the state government notified the case to the CBI for further investigation.

Rajesh Kumar, appearing on behalf of the CBI, said Ajay was the first person in Jharkhand who passed through such scientific tests (brain mapping, narco analysis test and passing through lying detector machine) done in Gujarat.

The court found it to be a cold blooded murder.

The accused confessed that he had mixed poison in the food of all the five persons of the family.

Ajay had earlier argued that on the day of the 'accident', five persons died but he somehow survived. Ajay failed to prove himself innocent and accepted his guilt later.

UNI