Ghaziabad man who killed lover in Nainital 5 years ago gets life in jail

DEHRADUN: The court of district and sessions judge, Nainital, has sentenced Mohd Imran, 40, to life imprisonment in a case related to the murder of his live-in partner in Aug, 2021.

A statement by the victim’s 15- year-old daughter before the court played a crucial role. Imran father of an 8-year- old girl was accused of conce- aling his religion, assuming a false name, “Rishabh Tiwari”, befriending Diksha Mishra, 41, and then getting into a live- in relationship with her in No- ida. On Aug 14, 2021, both went to Nainital for a trip, where Im- ran killed her in a hotel room and fled the scene. Police registered a murder case against Imran and later arrested him from Ghaziabad, where he worked as a property dealer.

During the trial, Diksha’s friends, Shweta Sharma and Altamas, told the court that they had booked two hotel rooms in Mallital. On Aug 16, when Shweta and Altamas called Imran, his phone was switched off, while Diksha’s was ringing but the call went unanswered. Sensing somet- hing wrong, they opened the door and found Diksha lying on the bed, and Imran missing. District govt counsel Sus- hil Kumar Sharma presented Diksha’s daughter in court, who stated that Imran frequently visited their home.

She stated that on Aug 16, the convict arrived at their Noida flat and told her that her mother was waiting in her office and had sent him to retrieve a pass- word, “which Diksha has forgotten”. The minor further stated that Imran took papers from her mother’s cupboard and left. Sharma added that Diksha, who was divorced after her marriage in 2008, had some financial issues with Imran, which led to a disagree- ment between them in Naini- tal.

It was after that he strang- led her to death. The DGC ad- ded: “Imran met Diksha while working on a property deal and established friendship by concealing his religion.” The prosecution presented 17 witnesses, forensic lab re- ports, call details, WhatsApp chats along with the 15-year- old daughter’s statement to prove its case, and the judge, Prashant Joshi, on Thursday sentenced Imran to life in jail.