No one killed Aditya. No hope for Bihar

Is there no hope Aditya Sachdeva will finally get justice? The 19-year-old schoolboy was killed in cold blood, allegedly by enfant terrible Rocky Yadav, son of terror Bindi Yadav, in Gaya on May 7. Rocky is accused of shooting at the car in which Aditya was travelling along with four of his friends, just because they overtook his multi-utility vehicle Land Rover. The casual manner in which the case is being handled by the Bihar Police and the political leadership from day one leaves little scope for it to reach its logical conclusion.

Miscarriage of justice is a foregone conclusion until the case is transferred out of Bihar or is handed over for Supreme Court-monitored CBI investigation. These are the reasons why.

1. Questionable role of the police

Whether deliberately or unwittingly, the Bihar Police is leaving several loopholes in the case which will make it weak and indefensible in the court of law.

A. The police registered an FIR on May 8, about 24 hours after the ghastly incident took place. The FIR was registered under the pressure from the local media and the people.

B. Rocky's father, Bindeshwari Prasad Yadav, alias Bindi Yadav, the "bahubali" and history-sheeter of Gaya who has several grave crimes registered against his name, and the bodyguard of his wife Manorama Devi, were arrested on May 9, a day after the FIR was registered.

C. Even though Rocky was absconding when Bindi and Rajesh Kumar (the bodyguard) were arrested, the police did not seek their remand on producing them in the local court. They should have tried to find out the whereabouts of Rocky, circumstances under which he fired at Aditya and several other aspects of the case. Instead, the police allowed them to be sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

D. The police did not conduct medical examination on Rajesh to find out whether he was under the influence of liquor or not. There are chances that Rocky and his co-passengers in his MUV - his cousin Taini Yadav and Rajesh - were drunk. But a crucial part of evidence has been lost because of this lapse on the part of the police.

E. The police recovered 70 rounds of ammunition and six bottles of foreign liquor in the dry state during the raid conducted on May 9 in Rocky's AP Colony residence, registered in the name of his mother, Manorama Devi, the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] MLC on May 9. While they registered an FIR against Bindi and arrested him the same day, they did not take any action against Manorama immediately.

They interrogated the JD(U) MLC only about Rocky's hideout. It was only under immense pressure again from the media, local people and the BJP that the police registered a case in the evening of May 11 against the MLC for keeping liquor bottles. But she had fled by the time a case was registered against her. This leads one to the question whether the late filing of case against Manaroma Devi was deliberate and if the police helped her in absconding.

Manorama Devi's case mocks chief minister Nitish Kumar's claims of strict implementation of the prohibition law. While commoners are being harassed by the police in the name of the new law, high profile people like her violate the law and escape from the clutches of the police.

F. Shocking it may sound, but the police did not seek the remand of the main accused Rocky. They first allowed him to be remanded to judicial custody, raising suspicion that it was done deliberately so that Rocky could meet his father and his mother's bodyguard who are lodged in the same jail, discuss, talk and find a way out of the mess they find themselves in. Later, the police sought his remand just for five days and the court gave his custody to them for two days. It is unlikely that the police will manage to visit all the places Rocky went to between the incident and getting arrested and interrogate him.

G. The police may be claiming that Rocky has confessed to his crime but it will not hold during trial because his confession has not been recorded under section 164 of the CrPC. Strangely, while the statements of the others, like Bindi, Rajesh and Aditya's friends, have been recorded in front of a magistrate under this provision, that of Rocky has been given a go by. Contrary to the claims of the police, Rocky has already been building his case by telling the media that he was not even present in Gaya on the day of the incident. He came on receiving his mother's call.

H. The police had arrested Rocky along with his Beretta pistol, which was allegedly used to kill Aditya. However, either because of negligence, ignorance or deliberate attempt, the policemen held the pistol with bare hands. After having passed through several bare hands, it is highly unlikely that the pistol would be bearing Rocky's fingerprints or they can be traced in forensic test. This is just criminal negligence.

I. What may speak volumes about the callousness of the police, they did not recover Aditya's blood-soaked clothes till May 12. It was only when pointed out by the media that they started scouting for them and found them from the deceased teenager's home. In fact, the clothes were thrown in the ANMMC Hospital's dustbin where Aditya had been admitted. Members of his family carried them back home where his mother clutched on to them to remember the departed soul.

2. Political patronage

Bindi is close to both Nitish and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad. He had contested the 2005 Bihar Assembly elections as an independent candidate and the 2010 state polls on RJD ticket, though he lost on both the occasions. However, Nitish inducted him in the JD(U) about six months before the 2015 Assembly elections. "Sushasan Babu" (governance man), as Nitish is called in the state, also gave MLC ticket to Bindi's wife despite knowing her husband's criminal background.

Even now, despite all the reports and circumstantial evidence, Nitish, who is also the JD(U) president, has not expelled Manorama Devi from the party. He has just suspended her, that too four days after the incident. He may be trying to build up his image by legislating the prohibition law, but he will be accused of being weak in its implementation. Despite liquor bottles having been recovered from Manorama Devi's house, he has not expelled her from the party. Is this Nitish's "zero tolerance" towards crime and prohibition?

3. Influencing witnesses

The Maruti-Suzuki Swift car in which Aditya was travelling belongs to his friend Kaifi. On the fateful evening, while Kaifi was sitting on the front seat, his elder brother Nasir was driving the car. Kaifi and Nasir are sons of one Hasnain or Hasnu Mian, who is considered close to Bindi. Hasnu, who also has a criminal background, and Bindi were business partners at one point in time.

Rocky had got into an argument with Nasir over overtaking of his Land Rover and had even hit him. Nasir's nose had started bleeding after the punch. On the backseat, Aditya was sitting in the middle, with Ankit to his left and Ayush to his right. When Rocky shot from his revolver from behind, it pierced through the car's windshield and hit Aditya.

Nasir had told the police that it was Rocky who had hit him and shot from the pistol. But now, friends close to Aditya feel that Nasir and Kaifi will turn hostile in the court due to the old association of their father with Bindi. They also fear that Bindi might "influence" the other witnesses - by inducement or threat - in the case as they may not like to get into trouble.

4. Distance from Delhi

Victims like Jessica Lal, Nitish Katara and Priyadarshini Mattoo could get justice because they their case was argued in Delhi. The judicial process happened under the media glare and scrutiny. It is felt that Gaya being far from Delhi, the Aditya case will not get the same media attention. Very soon, it might get forgotten and then the game of manipulation of the case will start.

No wonder, Aditya's father, Shyamsunder Sachdeva, while wailing, was repeatedly heard saying that there was no hope in the case. He said Rocky would make merry in jail.

5. Bihar's poorest conviction rate

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on conviction rate for 2014, the national percentage of cases in which the accused were sentenced and punished stood at above 45 per cent. In 2013, the conviction rate was 40.2 per cent while in 2012 it stood at 38.5 per cent. In 2014, Kerala was the most impressive state with over 77 per cent convictions while Bihar was the worst with just 10 per cent. No wonder, despite having dozens of grievous crimes registered against them, criminals like Bindi are not only free but they flourish and prosper using their dubious background and terrorising the society.

As the matter progresses, one gets a sense that the police will not make a water-tight and foolproof case against Rocky, Bindi, Manorama Devi and the bodyguard. There are very bleak chances of Aditya getting justice in such circumstances.