Ranga, Billa's death penalty upheld for gruesome murders

In 1980, SC junked the criminals' plea against death sentence over a crime that shook Delhi

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A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India YV Chandrachud, and including justices Chinnappa Reddy and Bahrul Islam, on December 8, 1980, dismissed an appeal by Jasbir Singh alias Billa (25), and Kuljit Singh alias Ranga (23), against their death sentence and conviction for the abduction and murder of the teenaged Chopra children.

It was in August 1978 that Geeta and Sanjay, the children of Captain MM Chopra, who was serving at the naval headquarters in Delhi, hitched a ride with the killers, Billa and Ranga, near Dhaula Kuan in a car stolen earlier by the criminal duo. Instead of being dropped at the All India Radio, where Geeta had an appointment, the teenagers were kidnapped.

Sanjay, 15, who grappled with the criminals, was knifed to death. Geeta, 17, was criminally assaulted before Ranga and Billa stabbed her too in a bush near the usually deserted Buddha Jayanti Park straddling the Delhi Ridge. Their bodies were recovered three days later on August 29. A nationwide manhunt was launched for the killers. They were caught by some army jawans while boarding at Agra, the military compartment of the Delhi-bound Howrah-Kalka Mail.