New Delhi: The Delhi High Court was on Friday informed that Uttarakhand Police would take care of the security of Nilam Katara, mother of deceased businessman Nitish Katara who was kidnapped and murdered by Uttar Pradesh politician D.P. Yadav’s son Vikas Yadav.
The court has now asked the centre to assess the perception of threat on Katara’s mother and has asked the Centre to file an affidavit in this regard by the next date of hearing on January 14.
During the course of hearing, Advocate Pradeep Dey, the counsel appearing for the petitioner, asked the court that his client be also given security during transit to and from Delhi and Dehradun.
She will also have to travel through some part of Uttar Pradesh in between, so the UP government must also be asked to provide her protection during that period, Dey submitted.
Responding to these submissions, Central government standing counsel Gaurang Kanth apprised the bench that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also asked the Delhi Police, which has been providing security to Katara here, to give her protected accommodation whenever she visits the national capital.
“Delhi Police has already been providing security to the petitioner and as advised by the MHA the same shall continue as per the threat assessment,” Kanth said.
He also informed the court that the Ministry also wrote to the Uttarakhand government requesting it to provide security to Nilam Katara while she is residing in their jurisdiction.
The court was hearing a plea filed by the deceased businessman’s mother seeking directions to authorities concerned to grant her protection in Uttarakhand, where she is shifting soon.
On October 3, 2016, the Supreme Court had awarded a 25-year jail term without any benefit of remission to Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal for their role in the sensational kidnapping and killing of Katara. Another co-convict Sukhdev Pehalwan was also handed down a 20-year jail term in the case.
Prior to this, the Delhi High Court, while upholding the life imprisonment awarded to Vikas and Vishal Yadav by the trial court, had specified a 30-year sentence, without any remission, to both of them. It had awarded a 25-year jail term to third convict Pehalwan.
All three were convicted and sentenced for kidnapping Nitish Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002 and then killing him for his alleged affair with Bharti Yadav, the sister of Vikas.
Bharti is the daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician D.P. Yadav who is in jail in connection with another murder case.
Katara was murdered as Vishal and Vikas Yadav did not approve of his affair with Bharti because they belonged to different castes, the lower court had said in its verdict.
