Prayagraj: The court of special judge of Gangster Act postponed the verdict in the famous bullion trader Pankaj Mahindra kidnapping case of Prayagraj on Tuesday. There are 10 accused in this kidnapping case including underworld mafia don Bablu Srivastava.
The district court had ordered 10 accused including don Bablu Srivastava alias Om Prakash Srivastava to appear on July 2 for the verdict in the businessman kidnapping case. Today the court has fixed July 5 as the next date for the verdict.
Due to security reasons, don Bablu Srivastava’s appearance was done through video conferencing. Nine accused were present in the court. Don Bablu Srivastava is in Bareilly jail. The hearing of the kidnapping case is going on in Vinod Kumar Chaurasia in District Court Allahabad.
Bablu Shrivastav alias Om Prakash, who is lodged in Bareilly jail, has already expressed the danger to his life. He has requested the court to appear before him through video conferencing. Bablu Shrivastav had earlier also requested through his lawyers to appear before him through video conferencing from Bareilly jail. Bablu has told the court through the jail superintendent and his lawyer that his life may be in danger in the long journey from Bareilly to Prayagraj.
According to prosecution on the night of 5 September 2015, Pankaj Mahindra, a big bullion trader living in the city Kotwali area, closed his jewellery shop and left for home in his car. Armed miscreants kidnapped him along with his car. Later, Pankaj Mahindra’s car was found abandoned near the Lathe Hanuman Temple in Bandhwa, Sangam. Then the kidnappers demanded 10 crore rupees in exchange for releasing the businessman.
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STF was deployed in the case. The teams cordoned off the farm house of Vineet Parihar in Sarkandi village of Asodhar police station in Fatehpur district and raided it. Pankaj Mahindra was found tied there. Police teams arrested Vikalp Srivastava alias Golu, nephew of mafia don Bablu Srivastava, Mahendra Yadav, resident of Gorakhpur, Sachchidanand Yadav alias Sachita, Chandra Mohan alias Bablu Yadav, resident of Barethi police station Tharwai from the spot.
The prosecution’s testimony was completed on 30 September 2023 in this kidnapping case. 21 witnesses were presented on behalf of the prosecution. After this, on 16 October 2023, Bablu Srivastava was brought to Prayagraj for the first time from Bareilly Central Jail to appear in court. 10 co-accused including the mafia presented in the court had recorded their statement under 313 CRPC. In their statement, all the accused including Bablu Srivastava had declared themselves innocent.
