Ranchi Double Murder Case: Court Sentences Three Convicts to Life Imprisonment

Lokesh Chowdhary and two other convicts have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Ranchi court in the murder case of businessman brothers Hemant and Mahendra Agarwal. Each convict was also fined ₹30,000.

RANCHI – A significant verdict was delivered on Friday by the court of Additional Justice Vishal Srivastava in the double murder case of well-known businessmen Hemant Agarwal and Mahendra Agarwal. Lokesh Chowdhary, the head of a news channel, along with Dharmendra Tiwari and Sunil Singh, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

All three convicts were also fined ₹30,000 each.

A Brief Recap of the Case

The Agarwal brothers were shot dead on March 6, 2019.

Lokesh Chowdhary, MK Singh, Dharmendra Tiwari, Sunil Singh, and driver Ravi Shankar Lal were charged with the murder.

On the day of the incident, the brothers had gone to a news channel’s office at Ashok Nagar Road Number-1 to collect a due payment of ₹5 lakh.

When they didn’t return home, their family lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Lalpur police station.

Verdict and Convictions

On June 26, 2023, Justice Vishal Srivastava’s court found Lokesh Chaudhary, Dharmendra Tiwary, and Sunil Singh guilty of murder. Ravi Shankar Lal was acquitted. MK Singh, the fifth suspect in the case, remains at large.

On Friday, June 30, 2023, Justice Srivastava sentenced the three convicts to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹30,000 each. Assistant Public Prosecutor Ved Prakash and his colleague Siddharth Singh presented 19 witnesses on behalf of the prosecution during the trial.

Chowdhary’s Elusive Run

Lokesh Chowdhary fled Jharkhand after the incident and remained at large for 21 months. During his evasion, he sought anticipatory bail from the lower court to the High Court, all of which were denied. He finally surrendered in court on March 9, 2020, and has been in jail since then.