Ex-MLA, 2 Others Sentenced To 4-Yr Jail

Ambala: Former Congress MLA Ram Kishan Gurjar and two others were sentenced to four years imprisonment on by a local court in the 2009 suicide case of a journalist.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Arya imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Gurjar and co-accused Vijay and Ajit and also asked them to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased journalist.

Pankaj Khanna, a journalist of Naraingarh, had committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance on June 10, 2009.

In his suicide note, the journalist had alleged that Gurjar and two of his associates had harassed him and police had booked him in a false case on his direction.

In his suicide note, the journalist had alleged that Gurjar and two of his associates had harassed him and police had booked him in a false case on his direction

On the complaint of Yashpal Khanna, the journalist's father, police had registered a case against Gurjar, and two others under section 306 (Abetment to suicide) IPC.

After investigation the police had given a clean chit to Gurjar, a former chief parliamentary secretary.

However, Khanna had moved the district court seeking that the name of Gurjar be included in the FIR. Gurjar had challenged the matter in the high court which was dismissed.

PTI