Ghaziabad, Sep 22 (IANS) A CBI court here Thursday convicted three people for the 2006 murder of university professor Kavita Chaudhary in Uttar Pradesh.


A notice was also issued to key witness and former state irrigation minister Merajuddin Ahmed for turning hostile during the trial, said Senior Public Prosecutor Ejaz Khan.

The court, rejecting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea, did not accept the closure report for dropping the probe against two former state ministers and former vice chancellor of Meerut's Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU), where Kavita Chaudhary was a professor.

Special CBI Judge A.K. Singh convicted Ravinder and Sultan for murder, abduction, conspiracy, extortion and causing disappearance of evidence. Yogesh was convicted for extortion and criminal conspiracy. Ashok, a fourth accused, was acquitted.

"Another accused, Ravinder Pradhan, died in the jail during trial," said the senior public prosecutor.

The quantum of sentence for the convicts will be pronounced later.

Ahmed had to resign as minister after his name figured in the murder of the professor, who was abducted by five assailants Oct 23, 2006, from Garhmukteshwar.

The court rejected the CBI's report to close the probe against the then basic education minister Kiran Pal Singh, the then minister of state for food processing Babu Lal and former CCSU vice chancellor R.P. Singh.

The CBI file a charge sheet March 23, 2007. The agency presented 33 witnesses, of whom three, including Ahmed, turned hostile.

All the three ministers belonged to the then Samajwadi Party government headed by chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.