Nagpur: The District Judge -1 and Additional Sessions Judge M S Azmi in Nagpur on Monday held Suraj Sahu guilty of kidnapping and murdering 15-year-old boy Raj Pandey in a 2021 case. The court would decide the quantum of punishment to Suraj after hearing the prosecution as well as the defence on June 8.
Suraj (23) had called Raj alias Mangalu Rajkumar Pandey (15), a resident of Azad Nagar, on June 10, 2021 for playing a cricket match. He then kidnapped him from Indiramata Nagar in MIDC area and took him to an isolated place near the forest adjoining Salai Godhni on a motorcycle and stoned him to death and slit his right hand’s veins with a sharp-edged surgical blade in the small hours of June 11.
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A jilted lover, Suraj committed the heinous crime as Raj’s family had shifted his childhood friend-turned-lover to Banaras where she tied the nuptial knot with another man. After kidnapping Raj, Suraj was also demanding a beheaded photograph of Raj’s uncle as ransom on WhatsApp as the man had allegedly sexually exploited his mother six years ago. He had also claimed that Raj’s uncle had also injured him in an accident.
Though Suraj had brutally killed Raj, he kept negotiating with the victim’s family. The parents and family members of the victim later approached the police for help. Cops traced Suraj near Borkhedi and nabbed him. Cops took Suraj to the spot where he killed Raj and retrieved the boy’s body. MIDC Police arrested Suraj on charges under Sections 364(A) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
The government appointed Adv Vijay Kolhe as a Special Public Prosecutor in the case. MIDC Police investigated the matter and collected concrete evidence including the CCTV footage, audio recordings, reports of the DNA test and the ‘last-seen-theory’, and filed a chargesheet against Suraj.
The court examined as many as 26 prosecution witnesses. On the basis of the evidence and statements and cross-examination of the witnesses, the court held Suraj guilty of kidnapping and murdering the boy.
