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Shooting victims’ kin wait for Oct. 24

– PHOTO: R. V. MOORTHY

Relatives of the victims of the Connaught Place shooting case coming out of the court in New Delhi on Tuesday after the pronouncement of the verdict.

NEW DELHI: The decade-long wait for justice in the infamous Connaught Place shooting case may have been prolonged by a few more days with the court fixing October 24 as the date for pronouncement of the sentence, but it did not dampen the spirit of the shooting victims’ families who had reached the Patiala House courts here on Tuesday to hear the verdict.

“I am satisfied. But we will get peace the day the sentence is pronounced and the severest punishment is meted out to the guilty. We have full faith in the judiciary,” said septuagenarian Sardar Niranjan Singh, father of one of the victims, Jagjit Singh, reacting to the court’s verdict.

Mr. Singh might not remember the exact number of visits he has paid to the Capital from Kurukshetra in Haryana pursuing the case, but he is determined to fight “till my last breath”: “I have waited for ten years, I can wait for another ten days. I will continue to fight till I get justice for my son. Two innocent persons were murdered by the policemen and they should meet the same fate as my son. Only then will his soul rest in peace.”

Navjot and Amarjeet -- teenaged sons of Jagjit Singh -- and several other relatives accompanied their grandfather to the Capital.

Recounting the arduous journey to the day of judgment, Mr. Singh’s close relative, Bhupinder Singh, said: “It has been a prolonged struggle for justice. And it is all the more difficult when a father has to fight for justice for his dead son.”

The other victim Pradeep Goyal’s wife Neema Goyal, a teacher in a school in neighbouring Gurgaon, said: “I want death penalty for the policemen who killed my husband in cold blood. The punishment should be such that it serves as a deterrent to others.”

Describing the conviction as a “partial” victory, Pradeep Goyal’s younger brother Arun said: “Even if they are handed out severe punishment by the trial court, they can appeal in a higher court and drag the case further. The real victory will be achieved the day all their options are exhausted and the sentence actually begins.”

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Shooting victims’ kin wait for Oct. 24

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