Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow

Lucknow, Oct 23: A Special CBI Court in Lucknow on Friday sentenced Bocha alias Raju Soni to 10 years’ imprisonment for the culpable homicide of a suspended Uttar Pradesh Police inspector in Pratapgarh in 2015, an official said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 9,000 on Soni in connection with the death of Inspector Anil Kumar, the then Station House Officer of Kotwali police station in Pratapgarh, on November 19, 2015, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement.

The CBI registered the case on June 29, 2018, in compliance with an order of the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow Bench, taking over the investigation from Kotwali City police station in Pratapgarh.

The case relates to culpable homicide not amounting to murder of the suspended SHO at the Model Shop of Hotel Vaishnavi in Pratapgarh, the CBI said.

After completing its investigation, the agency filed a charge sheet against two accused, Jishan Khan and Bocha alias Raju Soni. Charges were framed against both on December 14, 2022.

During the trial, co-accused Jishan Khan submitted a written application on April 4, 2026, confessing to the offences charged against him. His case was subsequently separated from the main case, and he was convicted on May 2, 2026. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and fined Rs 9,000.

The Special CBI Court sentenced Soni, the second convict, to the same punishment on Friday.

Inspector Anil Kumar reportedly died after being hit by a stray bullet fired during a clash between two groups of men over a parking dispute near a hotel.

Kumar had been suspended a few days before his death following the killing of a lawyer who was contesting an election for a post in the district panchayat within the jurisdiction of the police station he headed.