Haldiram owner convicted for murder conspiracy

KOLKATA - A fast track court Wednesday pronounced Haldiram confectionery chain owner Prabhu Shankar Agarwal and four others guilty of conspiring to kill a tea stall owner in Kolkata about five years ago.

The quantum of punishment will be announced Friday.

Agarwal hired a contract killer Gopal Tiwari in 2005 to dispose off the tea stall owner who had refused to remove the stall which was blocking the entrance of a large confectionary shop the businessman was about to open in the Burrabazar area of central Kolkata.

Tiwari and his three henchmen shot at and injured the stall owner Pramod March 30, 2005.

Tiwari was arrested May 22 the same year from Hyderabad by sleuths of the Kolkata Police.

Based on information provided by Tiwari, Agarwal was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi Jun 7, 2005 on his return from Britain, where he had gone to open a branch of his confectionery chain.

All five were charged under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 120B (conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) for allegedly hiring out a contract, besides the Arms Act.