Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky Yadav and his two associates were sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for their involvement in the cold blooded murder of a teenager boy Aditya Sachdeva in a road rage case of May 7, 2016 in Gaya. The court of Additional District and Session Judge-1 Sachidanand Singh also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on 28 year old Rocky.
Rocky’s father Bindi Yadav was awarded a sentence of five years imprisonment for his complicity in the case and protecting the accused. Two others awarded life sentence are Rocky’s cousin Rajiv Kumar alias Teni Yadav and a police bodyguard Rajesh who was associated with Rocky’s mother Manorma Devi. Devi, an MlC of JD(U), had been suspended from the party after the murder rocked the State.
The ADJ-1 had convicted all of them on August 1in pursuance of the directive of the Supreme Court which wanted the case to be finalised by September 11. The apex court had cancelled the bail granted to Rocky by the Patna high court. Bindi, Teni and Rajesh were out on bail and were taken into custody soon after the pronouncement of the sentence in Gaya.
Bindi Yadav was known as a terror in Magadh region and had later joined RJD and became close to lalu Prasad while his wife Manorma Devi was in JD(U) and the party had made her an MlC.
Aditya Sachdeva, a class VIII student, was the son of a Gaya trader and had gone to Bodh Gaya with his friends. On their return the incident took place when the car they were traveling overtook the Range Rover of Rocky who was traveling with his mother’s bodyguard and the cousin. An enraged Rocky fired at the car as a result the bullet hit Aditya.
After remaining underground for a few days the police arrested Rocky from an establishment of his father and the Berretta pistol used in the crime was also recovered. However, during the hearing of the case all the friends who were eye witness to the murder turned hostile.