Three convicted in Dubey murder case

Three men were on Monday convicted of murdering young NHAI engineer Satyendra Dubey who paid with his life after he blew the whistle on corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral project in Bihar.

A special CBI court in Patna, which held the three accused guilty of murder over six years after the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) whistleblower was shot dead, will pronounce the quantum of sentence on March 27.

The convicted men were Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas, a CBI statement said today. The IIT-Kanpur alumni, who had exposed several cases of large-scale flouting of rules and corrupt practices in the Quadrilateral Project, was gunned down in the early hours of November 27, 2003 in front of the Circuit House in Gaya.

The 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 of murder committed in furtherance of common intention and for voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery, it said.

"During the investigation, the 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 fateful intervening night of November 26/27, 2003. 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 also the country-made pistol were recovered during investigation.

The agency said Sharvan gave full and voluntary disclosure about the incident and was made an approver.