Saumya Vishwanathan murder: Delhi court convicts 5 accused in 15-year-old crime, sentencing on Oct 26

A Delhi journalist Saumya Vishwanathan was shot dead on her way back from work in on Nelson Mandela Road, on September 28, 2008. On Wednesday, the Delhi Saket Court convicted five accused in the murder of the journalist. The Delhi court set the date for sentencing on 26 October.

According to reports, the Delhi court found that Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar and Baljeet Malik had committed the murder with intention to rob Saumya Vishwanathan.

The five accused has been convicted under section 302 and 34. They are also held guilty under section 3(1) (i)of MCOCA. Ajay Sethi had retained the offending vehicle and was convicted under 411 IPC. He also facilitated the organisation and also held property derived from organised crime and is held guilty under section 3(2) and 3(5) of MCOCA.

Saumya Vishwanathan was a journalist at Headlines Today — what is now India Today.

After the verdict was announced, 2008 Delhi journalist Saumya Vishwanathan murder case, the deceased journalist's father said, “Justice has been done...”

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Notably, the Prosecution evidence of the Saumya Vishwanathan murder case took almost 10 years to be concluded.

This case was worked out after the arrest of accused persons in IT professional Jigisha Ghosh's murder case. They were arrested in the Saumya Vishwanathan case on March 28, 2009.

They were booked under the stringent law Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOCA).

Accused Ravi Kapoor along with Amit Shukla was awarded the death sentence by the trial court in the Jigisha Ghosh murder case which was commuted to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court.

This 15-year-old case pertains to the alleged murder of TV Journalist Saumya Vishwanathan who was working with a private channel. On the night of the incident, she was returning home after the night shift and was allegedly shot dead.

The Delhi government had appointed a Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) and the case was assigned to a special MCOCA Court to fast-track the hearing.

Later on, the SPP resigned from his post. This matter was lingering on from the beginning and it took almost a decade to complete the prosecution evidence.

Delhi police had invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on the basis of the past involvement of accused persons in other heinous cases including the Jigisha Ghosh murder case