Colonel Bains charged with murder in road rage case

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 16

Col Manveer Bains was charged with murder by a local court today. Initially accused of murder in the FIR in an incident of road rage, Colonel Bains had not been charged with murder in the chargesheet filed by police. It included Section 304 (II) of the IPC, which is culpable homicide not amounting to murder. However, the court has charged him with Section 304 (II) and Section 302 as an alternative charge. 

The court order reads that Colonel Bains “slapped” and gave “fist blows” to the deceased, Praveen Yadav. Previously, another court had rejected his bail observing that Colonel Bains had committed a serious offence and that “he knew the consequences of his actions”. The trial in the case is set to begin on March 1.

The complainant’s advocate argued in the court that Yadav was chased by the accused and was forced to stop the car. He said Colonel Bains threatened Yadav and asked him to come out of the car. The accused caught him from his shoulder and gave him blows, which led to his death.

A Sector 37 resident, Yadav died on the spot after a spat with Colonel Bains. The 48-year-old Mohali resident was arrested on September 2, 2017, and booked for murder after the family of deceased Praveen Yadav alleged that he had been “beaten to death”. According to the police, the Colonel thrashed Yadav in an incident of road rage on the road separating Sector 34 and 35.

However, the medical report from the GMCH, Sector 32, said Yadav’s death had occurred due to a heart attack. Thus, the police did not charge him with murder in the chargesheet. However, the prosecution had time and again argued that the thrashing given by Colonel Bains was the cause of Yadav’s death. It will now be a matter of trial. If proved, Colonel Bains will have to face a jail term for murder. If not, he will be punished under Section 304 (II) of the IPC.