A LOCAL court in Bijnor on Saturday awarded the death penalty to two persons, a day after they were found guilty of killing an officer of the National Investigating Agency (NIA), who was posted in Delhi, and his wife in 2016.
NIA Deputy Superintendent Tanzeel Ahmed, who had handled several cases related to terror outfit Indian Mujahideen and its chief Yasin Bhatkal, was returning from a family wedding at his native village Sahaspur along with wife and two children in a car when they were attacked in Bijnor on the night of April 2, 2016.
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While the 49-year-old NIA officer died on the spot, his wife Farzana died of injuries 10 days later.
On Friday, Additional District and Session Judge Vijay Kumar convicted Muneer Ahmed and Raiyan, both aged 25, of murder. The court acquired three other accused – Mohammad Zaini, Tanzeem and Rizwan.
On Saturday, the judge awarded the death sentence to Muneer and Raiyan, according to Anand Janghala, government counsel, Bijnor. Muneer and Raiyan, who are lodged in Sonbhadra jail, were present in court during the sentencing. Raiyan’s lawyer Anil Chowdhary said they would file an appeal against the sentence.
The court examined 19 prosecution witnesses in the case.
According to police, Muneer, who had 33 criminal cases against him, including eight related to murder, is from the same Bijnor village as the NIA officer. His accomplice Raiyan, who had three cases against him, is also from Sahaspur.
Government counsel Anand said the police found during their investigation that there was a financial dispute involving Rs 82 lakh between Muneer and Tanzeel, who was deputed to the NIA from the BSF.
Muneer had given Rs 82 lakh, which the police said was loot money, to Tanzeel to buy a flat in Delhi and a gun. The two fell out after some time when Muneer began suspecting Tanzeel of passing on information about him and his gang to the police, and asked him to return the money.
On the night of April 2, 2016, as Tanzeel was driving back to Bijnor along with his family, two men on a motorcycle opened fire on the car near the Sahaspur police outpost. While Tanzeel suffered 22 bullet injuries, his wife was shot four times. Their teenaged son and daughter, who were on the rear seat, escaped unhurt.
Five people were later arrested in connection with the murder.
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