HP: Residents in Shimla stage blindfold protest against HC verdict in 2014 Yug murder case

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 25 (ANI): Anguished residents of Shimla, along with family members of four-year-old Yug Gupta, who was brutally murdered in 2014, took to the streets on Thursday in protest against the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s recent decision commuting the death sentence of two convicts to life imprisonment and acquitting a third accused.

Protestors, wearing black badges and blindfolds as a mark of dissent, marched from the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) building to Sher-e-Punjab, shouting slogans such as “We want justice” and “Punish Yug killers”.

The demonstration reflected the community’s outrage over what they described as a miscarriage of justice.

Yug, the only son of Vinod Gupta, was kidnapped on June 14, 2014, from his courtyard in the busy Ram Bazaar area of Shimla. He was tortured and killed within a week of his abduction, even before his kidnappers made the first ransom call demanding Rs 3.6 crore.

In August 2016, his skeletal remains were recovered from a Shimla Municipal Corporation water tank in Kelston after the CID (Crime) took over the probe. The investigation revealed chilling details–that the child was thrown alive into the tank with stones tied to his body.

The case had triggered massive public outrage across Himachal Pradesh, with candlelight marches and repeated calls for swift justice.

On September 5, 2018, the Shimla District and Sessions Court, terming the crime as “rarest of rare”, sentenced the three accused–Chander Sharma, Vikrant Bakshi, and Tejinder Pal–to death under Sections 302 (murder) and 364A (kidnapping for ransom).

However, on September 23, 2025, a division bench of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Rakesh Kainthla of the Himachal Pradesh High Court altered the verdict. While commuting the death sentences of Chander Sharma (26) and Vikrant Bakshi (22) to life imprisonment, the court acquitted the third accused, Tejinder Pal (29), of all charges.

Reacting to the order, Yug’s father, Vinod Gupta, who led the march, expressed deep disappointment.

“Even after 11 years since Yug’s murder, we have not received justice from the court,” he said. “The High Court’s decision proves that the law is truly blind. That is why we wore blindfolds today. It is beyond comprehension on what basis the court acquitted one accused, even though he too was guilty.”

Gupta further vowed to challenge the ruling before the Supreme Court.

“We will not rest until justice is done. We will continue this fight until our last breath,” he said.

The protest marks a renewed wave of public anger in Shimla, with many residents asserting that the brutality of the crime warranted nothing less than the strictest punishment. (ANI)

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