Ansals surrender; sent to jail

Ashok Kumar

A new turn to Uphaar case 11 years after the devastating fire tragedy

- PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

DAY OF RECKONING: Uphaar cinema owners Gopal Ansal and Sushil Ansal at the Patiala House courts in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal surrendered before a court here on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court cancelled their bail in the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy case. Fifty-nine people had died in the devastating fire that engulfed the theatre owned by the Ansal brothers here during the matinee show of Bollywood film “Border” on June 13, 1997.

Soon after being taken into CBI custody, the two brothers were put behind bars in the Capital’s high-security Tihar Jail.

Dressed in formals, Sushil Ansal was the first among the four convicts in the case to arrive in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, I. K. Kochhar, accompanied by his lawyers around 3 p.m. His younger brother Gopal Ansal reached the court a little later. The two brothers were surrounded by their acquaintances and well-wishers in the courtroom while their lawyers completed the legal formalities. A few minutes later the two surrendered before the court and were taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Two former managers of Uphaar theatre, Ajit Chowdhary and Nirmal Chopra, also surrendered before the court in compliance with Supreme Court orders. They were whisked away to Tihar Jail by CBI sleuths through a backdoor to avoid the throng of media persons outside.

The Supreme Court had cancelled the bail granted by the Delhi High court to the Ansal brothers and the two former managers of the theatre and directed them to surrender before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at the Patiala House courts latest by 4 p.m. on Thursday.

The Ansal brothers along with three others were convicted by the trail court under Section 304-A IPC (causing death due to rash and negligent act) and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on November 20, 2007.

Coming out of the courtroom after the Ansals’ surrender, the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy convener Neelam Krishnamoorthy said she had been waiting for this moment for the past 11 years. “It pained us to see the Ansal brothers walk free on bail after an 11-year-long legal battle and conviction in the case. But their arrest today was very satisfying and the victims’ souls will now rest in peace. It has been proved that in the end no one is above the law. During the long trial, the two brothers never showed any sign of remorse or regret. They never understood our pain. Now they will feel the pain of being separated from their loved ones.”

http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/12/stories/2008091258490100.htm