Hindu Ecosystem Does Not Exist, 'Yogi Raj' Is A Silver Lining: Chandan Gupta Murder Case

The sentence of life imprisonment to 28 convicts in the murder case of Chandan Gupta, who was killed in Uttar Pradesh's (UP) Kasganj during the 2018 Republic Day Tiranga Yatra, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Beneath this iceberg lies the seven-year-long struggle of Chandan's family, which has bereft them of all their savings. They also witnessed all sorts of 'compromise' offers and pressure tactics from the accused.

The worse is that his family sustained all these efforts without the support of the Hindu community and Hindu organisations, which were only limited to organising demonstrations demanding justice for Chandan.

19-year-old Chandan was killed on 26 January 2018, when he was part of a bike rally carrying Indian national flags. The procession was stopped in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of Baddu Nagar.

Prashant Yadav, an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member who accompanied Chandan in this bike rally, told Swarajya, "I was there when stone-pelting started but then the police turned us away."

As the altercation turned violent, Chandan was shot dead and riots engulfed the town. But this was just the beginning of the struggles of Chandan's family as they had to face a hostile environment in the local Kasganj court.

One of the accused named in the First Information Report (FIR) in the Chandan murder case, Munazir Rafi was himself a lawyer, who was negatively affecting the proceedings at the Kasganj court.

Elaborating on difficulties faced in the Kasganj court, Chandan's brother Vivek Gupta told Swarajya, "Our file had a DVD carrying footage of violence. A hole was punched into that DVD so that it could not be played in the court."

The DVD was prepared by the UP Police, the brother said accusing the defendant party of tampering it. "After this incident, we understood that we won't be able to get justice here," he added.

Hence, Chandan's father Sushil Gupta filed a transfer application in Allahabad High Court (HC) citing 'difficulties in getting justice' at the local court. The case was subsequently transferred to neighbouring Etah in 2022.

A few media reports suggest that no senior lawyer was willing to take Chandan's case at Kasganj due to the influence of Rafi and hence the court acknowledged that the apprehensions of the applicant seeking transfer were 'reasonable.'

Court Proceedings

After the case was transferred to the Etah court, one of the District judges pointed out that the case includes Section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and hence should be transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Lucknow.

The testimony of Chandan's father had been completed at the Kasganj court and he requested the same to be admitted in the NIA court. Another witness Ripudaman's testimony was also recorded at Kasganj and the cross-questioning happened at the NIA court.

A total of 18 witnesses testified from Chandan's side including his brother Vivek and friend Saurabh Pal, who was present in the Tiranga Yatra. However, a few other friends of Chandan turned hostile during the proceedings.

One of Chandan's friends, Prateek Malu, who was one of the witnesses in the FIR, was discharged from the FIR and later testified from the defendant's side in favour of the accused.

A couple of other Chandan's friends, Anupam and Vivek, were also named as witnesses in the FIR but later backed off saying that they did not want to get involved in any legal proceedings.

However, the Additional Director General (ADG) of the Police of Agra Zone, Anupam Kulshreshth told Swarajya, "This did not affect the prosecution process because we had submitted enough scientific evidence."

Nonetheless, the legal proceedings exhausted Chandan's family mentally and physically and drained them financially. Chandan's brother Vivek recalls spending 20-25 days a month in Lucknow for the case.

"Since 2023, there used to be two hearings in a week, so I had to go there. From 8 October 2024 onwards, daily hearings started, so I had to be in Lucknow for more time. I used to spend my full days in court," he said.

Vivek estimates an expenditure of Rs 15 to 16 lakh in fighting the case for Chandan and said, "We have no savings left. Our all earnings have been spent on the case."

The Absent Hindu Ecosystem

While Chandan's family gave it their all to seek justice, they did not receive any help from the Hindu society. On the contrary, there were some betrayals from fellow Hindus.

For instance, while Chandan's friends Anupam and Vivek did not testify due to 'family pressure', two fellow Hindus, Prateek Malu and Vishal Thakur, who were present in Tiranga Yatra, testified in favour of the accused.

"Money must have been offered to them. They did not favour us because they did not want to testify for free. I don't know how much was offered to them but that is what I assume," Chandan's brother Vivek told Swarajya.

Vivek explained that earlier Prateek Malu got discharged from Chandan's FIR saying that there was fear and being the only son, he did not want to testify, but when he got money from the accused side, he testified as a defence witness.

Moreover, even the 'compromise' offers were brought to Chandan's father Sushil by fellow Hindus who suggested, as per Vivek, "Take Rs 1 or 2 crore. What is kept in court-kachehri (legal proceedings)."

Vivek said that nobody came to him with a 'compromise' offer because they knew he was aggressive and would lash out at them. However, with such a hefty amount being offered, the family got fearful, he added.

"We were afraid that if they can offer such a huge amount to us, then they can also give a contract for killing us. Hence, we did not reject any offer directly and just said that the matter is in the court," Vivek said.

He added that among those who brought such offers, one was Prateek Malu's mausa (uncle), who earlier worked as a reporter but now runs some agency.

No Hindu organisation, except Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), of which Vivek is a member, helped Chandan's family. "My organisation was with me, I knew it," Vivek said on the role of RSS.

The family also did not receive any monetary help from anyone. "Neither did anybody offer, nor we sought because society judges. They would say, I'm cashing on my brother's death," Vivek told Swarajya.

"There were some youths who were keeping the matter alive on social media, but on the ground, I was alone," he concluded.

The Ecosystem Backing The Accused

When we contrast the experiences of Chandan's family, with those of the accused, we find a striking difference as the accused appear to have both money and muscle power.

When the case was in Kasganj, the lobby of Muslim lawyers was so influential that it did not allow proper hearings. They also issued various threats to Chandan's family to pressurise them to drop the case.

When the bail application of lawyer Munazir Rafi, one of the accused in the Chandan case, was under consideration, Mohini Tomar was one of the lawyers who opposed it. She was later murdered on 3 September 2024.

Agra Zone ADG Anupam Kulshreshth told Swarajya, "Munazir Rafi is accused in Mohini Tomar's case also. The police have collected scientific evidence for the charge sheet and special vigilance is being maintained."

Mohini Tomar was known to be a fiery lawyer, who often took cases against Muslim accused, which many lawyers at the Kasganj court avoided. However, the specific details of what triggered her murder could not be sought.

When the case went to Lucknow's NIA court, the accused side tried to move it back to Kasganj, to maintain their undue influence over the case, by moving an application to the Lucknow bench of Allahabad HC.

From 24 October to 20 December, the case hearings at the NIA court were stalled as the transfer application was being heard by the Allahabad HC. A total of eight hearings happened there.

Chandan's brother Vivek told Swarajya, "Former UP Minister in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government, Satish Chandra Mishra represented the accused there. He is known to charge Rs 5 to 10 lakh per hearing."

"The defendant side might have spent crores on lawyers as along with Mishra, dozens of lawyers, around 30 came in each hearing. In the 6 November hearing, the court was full of their lawyers," Vivek recalled.

Even in the NIA court, Vivek estimates that the accused were represented by 20 to 25 lawyers while Chandan had a single lawyer. "A total of 50 to 60 people used to spend the whole day in court from their side," he added.

After dismissal of transfer plea to Kasganj in Allahabad HC, the accused side had also moved the Supreme Court on 23 December 2024. In response, Chandan's family had filed a caveat. The transfer plea was dismissed on 2 January 2025.

Even the NIA court expressed concern over the funding of the accused's lawyers and ordered an investigation into it as a defending lawyer Zia-ul-Uloom Gilani claimed the support of many NGOs to the accused during one of the hearings.

India-based NGOs like Citizens of Justice and Peace, People's Union for Civil Liberties, Rihai Manch, United Against Hate, and foreign NGOs like Alliance for Justice and Accountability (New York), Indian American Muslim Council (Washington DC) and South Asia Solidarity Group (London) have been named in the court order.

Special judge Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi questioned the interest of these NGOs in a communal clash and urged finding out the sources of their funding and what is their collective objective. The judge called for effective measures to check their unwanted interference in the judicial process.

The Silver Lining

Against the muscle and money power of the accused, Chandan's family only had their perseverance, a belief in the country's judiciary, and a little support from the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government.

While the government did not directly help Chandan's family, it provided them with good public prosecutors, who could present the case well in courts and UP Police did its task well to provide with all evidence.

Under 'Operation Conviction' launched by UP Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar, the state police has started focusing on effective prosecution in courts to bring the cases to conclusion and increase conviction rates.

Under this operation, first a Special Investigation Team (SIT) qualitatively probed the matter and then the witnesses were assisted in attending the court on decided dates and making bona fide testimonies.

"To encourage these efforts, the police will also reward prosecution officers," ADG Agra Zone told Swarajya. The police's efforts in preventing the transfer of the case back from NIA court to Kasganj court also needs a special mention.

Chandan's brother Vivek, in conversation with Swarajya, said, "When the accused challenged NIA trials under Section 482A, some paperwork was sought from the police, which they promptly did and presented in the court."

ADG Agra Zone also confirmed the development saying, "Required document and effecting arguments were presented by the police, leading to dismissal of accused's appeal and the conclusion of the case on 3 January 2025."

The police also provided protection including a gunner to Chandan's father and brother since 24 October 2024. ADG Agra Zone told Swarajya that the police constantly remained in touch with Chandan's family to instill confidence in them.

"When I was provided with police protection, I was in Lucknow. A gunner from Kasganj came to Lucknow for me and the Lucknow DM (District Magistrate) also ordered police protection for me during court hearings," brother Vivek recalled.

He said that their earlier demands for protection were denied but later a jeep with four policemen came to pick up and drop him to and from the court, while one policeman accompanied him inside the court.

While the 3 January verdict gave a sigh of relief to Chandan's family, they are bracing themselves for further legal proceedings as they know that with such backing, the accused will challenge the NIA court sentence in the Allahabad HC.

"They will definitely file an appeal against the order and we will also file appeal challenging the acquittal of two accused, demanding action against them. We will also demand enhancing the life sentence of the 28 accused," Vivek said.

A total of 31 accused were named in the charge sheet, of which one has died and 28 were convicted, while two were acquitted as the court gave them benefit of doubt.

It remains to be seen how the case proceeds further, whether the accused gets more money from so-called NGOs for fighting case in higher courts or the UP Police restrains that, but the struggles of Chandan's family have shown that the Hindu ecosystem simply does not exist.