Court Acquits All Accused in 24-Year-Old Nadesar Shootout Case

A special court has acquitted six individuals in the decades-old Nadesar shootout case, citing insufficient evidence. Among the acquitted are Ayodhya MLA Abhay Singh and MLC Vineet Singh. The case involved an attack in 2002 on former Jaunpur MP Dhananjay Singh, which resulted in injuries to him and two others.

A special MP-MLA court on Wednesday acquitted six individuals, including Ayodhya MLA Abhay Singh and MLC Vineet Singh, in a 24-year-old case related to a shootout in Nadesar. This incident involved former Jaunpur MP Dhananjay Singh as the target. Dhananjay, his gunner Vasudev Pandey, and driver Dinesh Kumar Gupta were injured in the attack that took place in 2002.

Special Judge Yajurvendra Vikram Singh cited insufficient evidence as the basis for the acquittal, awarding the accused the benefit of the doubt. The court also acquitted Sanjay Singh Raghuvanshi, Satyendra alias Bablu Singh, Sandeep Singh alias Pappu, and Vinod Singh. Abhay Singh was elected MLA in 2022 representing Samajwadi Party but was expelled in 2025 for anti-party activities.

According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on October 4, 2002, in the Nadesar area when Dhananjay was returning to Jaunpur from Varanasi. The accused allegedly intercepted the vehicle near Taksal Cinema, launching an indiscriminate firing intended to kill. Dhananjay's gunner responded in self-defense, and the attackers fled as police arrived. An FIR was filed by Dhananjay following the incident, leading to a chargesheet against the accused dated December 14, 2002.

(With inputs from agencies.)