Chandigarh, Feb 20: Three men face life imprisonment or the death penalty after being convicted by a Chandigarh court for the 2019 murder of property dealer Sonu Shah. The court identified Shubham Prajapati, Manjit, and Rajan as the perpetrators of the fatal shooting but acquitted high-profile gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and four others due to insufficient evidence.
The ruling, delivered years after the 2019 incident in Burail, noted that the prosecution could not substantiate claims that the murder was orchestrated by Bishnoi from behind bars. The court has scheduled the formal announcement of the sentences for February 20.
Bishnoi’s legal team maintained that the police theory regarding a conspiracy was entirely without foundation. During his testimony, Bishnoi declared that he had no enmity with the victim and noted that he was being targeted for his social and religious activism. He stated that his long-term imprisonment made it impossible for him to coordinate the logistics of the attack.
“The investigation could not establish any link between the shooters and the alleged mastermind,” the defense asserted during the final arguments. This sentiment was echoed by jail authorities, who affirmed that no communication devices were ever found in Bishnoi’s possession to facilitate such an operation.
The conviction of the three shooters relied heavily on the recovery of the murder weapons and the getaway vehicle from Shubham Prajapati. While the court has cleared Bishnoi in this specific case, he remains a central figure in several other ongoing investigations across North India. The families of the injured victims, Joginder Phelwan and Rommy, await the final sentencing later this week.
