Chandigarh, Feb 20: A local court has acquitted gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in the 2019 murder case of Chandigarh property dealer Rajveer, alias Sonu Shah, citing a lack of evidence to establish a conspiracy. While Bishnoi was cleared of the charges, the court convicted three other individuals—Shubham Prajapati, Manjit, and Rajan, alias Jaat—for their direct involvement in the killing.
The trio was found guilty of murder following a trial that spanned over six years. The court stated that the quantum of the sentence for the convicts will be pronounced on February 20. Sonu Shah was gunned down in broad daylight at his office in Burail village on September 28, 2019, in an attack that also left two of his associates injured.
Defense counsels Terminder Singh, Manjinder Brar, and Abhey Joshi affirmed that the prosecution failed to provide any proof of communication or conspiracy involving Bishnoi. Appearing via video conferencing from jail, Bishnoi maintained that he had been incarcerated for the last 12 years and had no connection with the other accused. He asserted that his nomination in the FIR was a result of his community’s public protests regarding a high-profile poaching case in Rajasthan.
The investigation officers admitted during cross-examination that no mobile phones or communication devices were recovered from Bishnoi to link him to the crime. Similarly, the jail superintendent affirmed that Bishnoi had remained in high-security confinement without access to illegal communication tools during the period in question.
Of the convicts, Shubham Prajapati, a former national-level shot-putter, was apprehended in late 2019 with weapons and the vehicle used in the crime. Rajan and Manjit, identified as sharpshooters, were arrested in subsequent police operations. Bishnoi continues to be lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail as he faces trials in various other jurisdictions.
