Three convicted for murdering whistleblower Satyendra Dubey

The special CBI court in Patna has convicted Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas in the murder case of Dubey, a young engineer working in the Golden Quadrilateral Project of National Highway Authority of India, a CBI spokesperson said in a statement, adding the quantum of sentence will be pronounced on March 27.

The young IIT-Kanpur alumni, who had blown the lid off various instances of large-scale flouting of rules in the Golden Quadrilateral Project was shot dead in the early hours of November 27, 2003 in front of Circuit House, Gaya, Bihar.

His murder sparked protests across the country amidst calls for a legislation to protect whistleblowers who expose corruption.The CBI, which had taken over the investigation of the case from Bihar police on December 14, 2003 had filed a chargesheet in the case on September 3, 2004.

Mantu was convicted under sections for murder, voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery and the Arms Act for possessing unlicensed weapon, the statement said.
The other two accused persons were convicted for murder committed in furtherance of common intention and for voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery, it said.
"During the investigation, CBI arrested four persons, namely Mantu, Udai, Pinku and Sharvan Kumar, all residents of Katari village in Gaya, Bihar.

"They had all assembled near Circuit House, Gaya on the fatefull intervening night of November 26/27, 2003 and around 3.30 AM on November 27. When Dubey was passing in front of Circuit House, Gaya in a cycle-rickshaw, the accused persons robbed him of his belongings and during the ensuing scuffle, Mantu shot him dead with a .315 country-made weapon," the statement said.

The CBI said a briefcase containing documents belonging to Dubey including his Identity Card were recovered from an abandoned well and a  country-made pistol was also recovered during investigation.The agency said Sharvan gave full and voluntary disclosure about the incident and was made an approver.