A special court here on Saturday acquitted former Uttar Pradesh legislator Udai Bhan Singh in a 2003 murder case due to lack of evidence.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Praveen Singh acquitted Udai Bhan Singh and five other accused -- Sandeep Singh, Ashok Mishra, Raj Nath Mishra, Mabud Khan and Vishal Singh -- who were facing trial on charges of criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and intimidation.
The court observed that the prosecution failed to prove the circumstantial evidence against the accused.
"Prosecution has only succeeded in establishing that Udai Bhan Singh may have had a possible motive to kill Rakesh Kumar Pandey," the court said in its order.
The prosecution said that Udai Bhan Singh, in collusion with others, entered into a criminal conspiracy to eliminate Rakesh Pandey, a witness in the murder of Vakeel Shukla and two others in Gopiganj, before he could give evidence in court against them.
Pandey was shot dead allegedly by Santosh Singh on February 17, 2003.
The court said the prosecution failed to prove that the accused had hatched a conspiracy pursuant to which Rakesh Kumar Pandey was murdered.
Santosh Singh and two other accused -- Vinod Kumar Singh and Bashir Khan -- died during the trial and another accused, Kallu, was declared a proclaimed offender.
Currently serving a life sentence in the Shukla murder case, Udai Bhan is lodged in Fatehgarh jail in Uttar Pradesh.
