Faridabad, July 7: Mohit Sharma, son of Shiv Kumar Sharma a retired IPS officer of the Punjab cadre and four other persons were sentenced to a 10-year jail term on Friday in connection with a diamond robbery that took place in 2008. The sentence was pronounced by the court of Deepak Gupta, District and Sessions Judge. Mohit and five others had been held guilty by the court on July 2.
Besides Mohit, Ashok Kumar, Suresh Kumar, Mohammed Meharban and Bhupinder Singh were awarded 10-year sentence, while Harbans Lal was given a seven-year jail term. The case had been transferred here from Punjab in 2013 to ensure that the trial was not influenced by Mohit’s family.
The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 40,000 each on Mohit, Ashok, Suresh and Mohammed, while a fine of Rs 35,000 and Rs 25,000, respectively, was imposed on Bhupinder and Harbans. Amandeep Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Gurdhyan Singh, who were also named in the FIR, had been acquitted on July 2.
According to the prosecution, the robbery took place on October 9, 2008, the day Bhavesh Shah, a salesman of a Mumbai-based jewellery company, had come to Ludhiana to exhibit diamonds worth Rs 45 lakh to M Jewellers, owned by Mohit, and Ganpati Jewellers. Mohit had arranged a taxi for Bhavesh to travel to Amritsar later that day. The driver had halted the vehicle near Phillaur on the pretext of relieving himself. Three youths had assaulted Bhavesh and dumped him before fleeing in the car with his belongings and valuables.
Bhupinder, Ashok, Suresh and Mohammed were charged under Section 397 of the IPC, and Mohit and Harbans Lal under Sections 201, 412 and 120-B of the IPC after an investigation by the Ludhiana police. Mohit, who was out on bail, was remanded in judicial custody when he was declared guilty by the district court.
Source Tribune India
