Ludhiana court: Life term for pre-planned revenge killing

In a significant legal development, two men, Robin Singh and Kulwinder Singh, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Ludhiana court for the 2021 murder of Tushar Kumar, an 18-year-old salesman. The court found the killing to be a pre-planned act of revenge, triggered by a personal grievance over a shared romantic interest. This verdict concludes a lengthy wait for justice for the victim's family, following Tushar Kumar's disappearance on December 23, 2021.

The investigation revealed a conspiracy hatched by Robin Singh after he discovered Tushar Kumar was involved with a woman he was also befriending. Instead of direct confrontation, Robin Singh and his associates devised a plan to lure Tushar Kumar to his death. The court's decision was heavily influenced by a chain of circumstantial evidence, including the recovery of the victim's body from a concealed pit, directly linked to disclosure statements made by the accused.

While a third individual was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, the judge noted that the burden of proof shifted to the convicts once the body's location was revealed by them. The court ruled that the crime, though a cold-blooded betrayal, did not meet the threshold for the death penalty. The convicts retain the right to appeal the life sentences in a higher court.