Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Vishal Yadav, convicted in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that prosecution witness Ajay Katara should be prosecuted for perjury for speaking falsehood before the court.

The court was hearing appeals of Vishal Yadav, his cousin Vikas Yadav, son of former MP D.P. Yadav, and hired killer Sukhdev Pehalwan, who are serving life terms in Tihar.

Vishal was convicted in 2008 along with Vikas for kidnapping and murdering Nitish Katara, a close friend of Vikas’ sister Bharti.

The duo killed Nitish Katara, son of an Indian Administrative Service officer, on the night of Feb 17, 2002, after abducting him from a marriage party in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad as they were opposed to his relationship with Bharti.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Vishal Yadav, told a division bench of Justice Gita Mittal and Justice J.R. Midha: “He (Ajay Katara) should be tried for perjury as the story given by him before the trial court is wholly false.”

Jethmalani referred to the testimony of witness Ajay Katara and asked the court to reject the theory that he had seen the victim (Nitish Katara) in the company of Vikas and Vishal Feb 16-17, 2002.

Questioning Ajay Katara’s statement that he had seen Nitish Katara sitting with Vishal in a car that Vikas was driving before the murder, he added: “The court should demolish his story because it does not speak truth. It creates serious doubts.”

In his testimony Ajay Katara had said that Feb 16, 2002, night he was returning from Ghaziabad to his home in Delhi when his scooter had broken down and he was looking for some help before Vikas came that way.

Ajay Katara claimed that Vikas had asked him to remove his scooter from the road and also used uncivilised language.

He added that while taking down Vikas’ car number he had seen Nitish Katara in a red kurta, who was sitting with Vishal.