RK Sharma held guilty in Shivani murder case

Suspended IPS officer Ravi Kant Sharma and three others were on Tuesday convicted by a Delhi court in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri held Sharma, a Haryana-cadre IPS officer, guilty of hatching the conspiracy to murder Shivani, who had allegedly threatened to expose the suspended IPS officer's alleged involvement in leaking classified documents to her, nine years ago.

Three other accused -- Sri Bhagwan Sharma, Pradeep Sharma and Satya Prakash -- were also held guilty for executing the suspended police official's plot to kill Shivani.

Two accused -- Ved Prakash Sharma and Ved Prakash alias Kalu -- were acquitted for want of evidence.

The court would hear the argument on quantum of sentence, which may range from life term to death penalty, on March 20.

Bhatnagar, an Indian Express scribe, was killed in her east Delhi flat on January 23 1999.

The prosecution held that RK Sharma in his capacity as OSD (officer on special duty) at the PMO between July 1997 and April 1998 had leaked classified documents to the deceased journalist. It said that the two later developed an intimate relationship.

The prosecution also claimed that after some time differences cropped up between them and Shivani resented Sharma's bid to avoid her. Later, she decided to expose his involvement in "pilferage and passing out classified documents" to her.

It was this fear that Shivani would spoil his career, social status and married life that prompted Sharma to plan her killing, the investigation had reveale