A court in Dehradun has delivered a life imprisonment sentence to a woman and her lover for the cold-blooded murder of her former boyfriend, a crime that dates back to January 2020. The verdict was pronounced by District and Sessions Judge Harish Kumar Goyal on Monday, bringing a close to a case rooted in betrayal and revenge.
The Crime and the Motive
Amreen Jahan (28), a resident of Indira Nagar in Banphoolpura, and her lover, Radheshyam Shukla (30) from Haldwani, were found guilty of conspiring to kill Nazim Ali (30). The court heard that Amreen had previously been in a relationship with Nazim, who lived in the same locality. The motive for the murder emerged from a deep-seated grudge Amreen held after Nazim married another woman, despite having promised to marry her.
The chilling sequence of events began on January 2, 2020. According to the complaint filed by Nazim's brother, Wajid Ali Khan, the convicts lured Nazim under the pretext of going on a trip to Bhimtal. When the trio reached a hairpin bend on the Kathgodam–Bhimtal road, they stopped, claiming they wanted to sightsee. It was there that Radheshyam shot Nazim with a .315 bore pistol.
The Cover-Up and Arrest
Following the shooting, Radheshyam fled the scene. Amreen then placed Nazim's body in the car and drove it to Brijlal Hospital, where she falsely claimed he had been injured in an accident. In a calculated move, she even called Nazim's brother, Wajid Ali, introducing herself as a friend of Nazim and informing him that his brother was being taken to the hospital.
The cover-up quickly unraveled when doctors examined Nazim and confirmed he had died from a gunshot wound. Police, alerted to the discrepancy, arrested Amreen at the hospital itself. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against both accused under IPC Section 302 (murder). An additional case under the Arms Act was filed against Radheshyam Shukla, who was arrested a few days later.
Evidence That Sealed Their Fate
District Government Counsel Sushil Kumar Sharma presented a strong chain of evidence before the court. Upon Radheshyam's arrest, police seized his mobile phone and recovered five photographs showing all three individuals together, placing them at the scene. Based on his confession, investigators recovered the murder weapon, spent and live cartridges near the crime scene, and blood-stained clothes from his house.
Then Station House Officer Kailash Joshi sent crucial evidence, including blood samples from the scene, the clothes Nazim was wearing during the post-mortem, and Radheshyam's clothes, to a forensic laboratory. The tests provided a damning link: the blood on Radheshyam's clothes was confirmed to belong to Nazim Ali. During the trial, the prosecution examined 17 witnesses, using location and call detail records to firmly establish the timeline and movements of the accused and the deceased.
In its judgment, the court invoked profound moral and legal principles. It referred to the Quran, stating that "a person who kills an innocent person is considered to have killed all of humanity." It also cited the Manusmriti, which holds that a person who kills an innocent individual for selfish gain will never find happiness or peace in life.
Beyond the life sentence for murder, the court imposed additional penalties. Radheshyam Shukla was sentenced to an extra three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 under the Arms Act. Both convicts were also fined Rs 20,000 each by the court.
