JHARSUGUDA: A Chhattisgarh court on Saturday sentenced former Brajarajnagar MLA Anup Sai to life imprisonment for the murder of a 32-year-old woman and her 14-year old daughter in 2016.
The Raigarh sessions judge sentenced him to life imprisonment under section 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code and seven years under section 120B. He has also been imposed a penalty under each section.
However, another accused in the case, Burdhan Toppo, has been acquitted by the court. Toppo was then working as the driver of Sai.
Both Sai and his driver were arrested by the Chhattisgarh police on February 13, 2020 on charges of murdering one Kalpana Das and her daughter Bubly. Both were murdered on May 5, 2016, and their bodies were recovered near Hamirpur forest in Raigarh district of the State.
The post-mortem report of the deceased revealed that they were first hit with a blunt object before being run over by a vehicle to pass it off as a road accident. When mobile phone calls of Kalpana were traced, suspicion turned toward Sai. The police found evidence against the former MLA in 2017, and it took them three years to arrest him.
Briefing mediapersons following the judgment, public prosecutor Deepak Sharma said, “The accused former MLA Anup Sai was booked under section 302, 201, 120(B) and 34 of the IPC. The trial began in 2020 and the court has recorded the statement of 50 witnesses on the basis of which Sai was found guilty in the double murder.”
However, the driver of the ex-MLA, Toppo was acquitted from all charges on the benefit of doubt, he added. On the other hand, Sai’s lawyer Asish Mishra said, “The prosecutor failed to establish the involvement of the driver in the case due to which he has been acquitted. However, the district court has sentenced our client to life imprisonment. We are discussing the matter and will appeal in the higher court.”
Anup Sai gets lifer for double murder
According to reports, Sai was allegedly in a relationship with Kalpana since 2011 but conspired to eliminate her when she insisted on marriage and also demanded a share in his property. As per Chhattisgarh police, Sai was staying with Kalpana and her daughter in a three-story building in Bhubaneswar as a family.
She also wanted the building, purchased by Sai, to be transferred in her name. That is when Sai conspired to eliminate the two.
On May 5, 2016, the former MLA took Kalpana and Bubly in his car to Raigarh on the pretext of marriage. But on the way, he fatally assaulted both and to make it look like an accident mauled the bodies under his vehicle several times before fleeing to Odisha via Hamirpur.
Sai was elected to Odisha Assembly consecutively from Brajarajnagar constituency for three terms from 2000 to 2009 on a Congress ticket. He joined BJD in 2014 and fought the elections, but lost.
He was suspended from the party and removed as the chairperson of Odisha State Warehousing Corporation after his arrest.