A Patna fast-track court on Saturday sentenced three persons to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of NHAI engineer Satyendra Dubey who had blown the whistle on irregularities in the Golden Quadrilateral Project in Bihar. The verdict was pronounced by fast-track court-V judge Raghvendra Kumar Singh. The three Mantu Kumar,Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas had been convicted for Dubeys murder on March 20. Senior CBI lawyer L R Ansari told The Sunday Express: As it was not a rarest of rare case of murder,with intention being robbery,both prosecution and defence pleaded the court for punishment it deemed fit in the case. Dubeys family,however,stayed away from the court saying they had little interest in the case as no big fish were caught by the CBI. Satyendra Dubeys brother Dhananjay Dubey,an engineer working with a private firm,told The Sunday Express from New Delhi that there was no point for us to visit the court when we strongly feel that the CBI did not catch the right people. These small fries getting life sentence does not mean anything to us. Dhananjay said his parents Bageshwari Dubey and Phulmati Devi had been living with him in Delhi for some time. Though they have gone to our paternal Shahpur village in Siwan for 10 days,I do not want the media to disturb my aged and torn parents. My mother recently had a brain haemorrage. He said they had lot of hopes about getting justice for his brother after media particularly The Indian Express widely covered the case and generated public concern over the fate of whistleblowers in India. The court convicted Mantu Kumar under IPC Sections 302 (murder),394 (voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery) and 27 (A) Arms Act for possessing unlicensed weapon. Udai and Pinku were convicted under IPC sections 302/34 (murder committed in furtherance of common intention) and 394.
