By IANS
New Delhi : A city court Wednesday reserved its order in the nine-year-old murder case of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri reserved the judgement for March 18 after the prosecution concluded its final arguments in the case.
The judge Tuesday asked the prosecutor to make its final submissions by Wednesday or else admit in writing that they had failed to conclude the arguments on the due date.
Special Public Prosecutor S.K. Saxena concluded his arguments by citing the role of R.K. Sharma, former Haryana cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who had in connivance with five other co-accused executed the murder of the Indian Express scribe.
Besides R.K. Sharma, Pradeep Sharma, Satya Prakash, Ved Prakash Sharma, Ved alias Kalu and Sri Bhagwan are facing trial in the case.
Earlier, in his brief arguments, Saxena said that while Pradeep Sharma had executed the murder at the instance of R.K. Sharma, the other accused had acted as “intermediaries” in the commission of the crime.
Terming it as a case based on “circumstantial” evidence, Saxena said the prosecution would prove its charges with regard to the motive behind the case on the basis of the telephonic talk among the accused.
Bhatnagar was found murdered in her East Delhi apartment Jan 23, 1999.