Ponty case: Court frames murder charges against 21 accused

A Delhi court on Friday framed murder charges against all 21 accused, including sacked Uttarakhand minorities panel chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, in the 2012 shootout case in the national Capital that claimed the lives of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his younger brother Hardeep.

Additional Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav framed charges under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the IPC against all the accused. Against accused Rajpal, from whom six cellphones were recovered, the court also framed charges under Section 412 of IPC. It posted the matter for September 19 for beginning of trial.

Ponty and Hardeep, who allegedly involved in a property dispute, were killed in a shootout at a Chhattarpur farmhouse on November 17, 2012. On January 28, 2014, the trial court had dropped murder charges against all the accused and added culpable homicide not amounting murder charges against the alleged main conspirator Namdhari and his Personal Security Officer Sachin Tyagi.