Above: Rakesh Ranjan Yadav alias Rocky Yadav (centre) will be sentenced on September 6 in a road rage case. Photo: UNI
A special court in Gaya on Thursday (August 31) convicted Rocky Yadav, the son of suspended JD(U) MLC Manorama Devi, along with three others which include his father Bindi in the infamous Gaya road rage case where teenager Aditya Sachdeva was shot dead.
Apart from Rocky and Bindi, also convicted were his cousin Teni Yadav and his mother’s security guard Rajesh Kumar. The quantum of punishment will be announced on September 6. The Supreme Court had fixed September 5 as the deadline for deciding the case.
Rocky and two others were held guilty by the Court of Additional District Judge-I Sachchidanad Singh under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), whereas his father Bindi was convicted for protecting his son.
Last year in May, Aditya, a class 12 student, was shot dead by Rocky for overtaking his Range Rover. He died on the spot. Rocky’s mother, Manorama was a JD(U) MLC, but was later suspended from the party by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Rocky was granted bail by the Patna High Court in October last year, but the bail was soon cancelled by the Supreme Court after the state government challenged the order.
With key witnesses turning hostile, the prosecution had to rely heavily on circumstantial evidences, such as Rocky’s Beretta pistol used for the murder. The witnesses who turned hostile were Aditya’s friends.
—India Legal Bureau