Barabanki,

01 July (HS): A special court here has sentenced 12 individuals to life in an

18-year-old case involving violence and death over a quarrel, authorities said

on Tuesday. Veena Narayan, a Special Additional Sessions Judge (SC/ST Act),

delivered the decision, finding the 12 defendants guilty of murder, attempted

murder, arson, rioting, and crimes under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities). According

to prosecution officer Kripa Shankar, the court also levied a Rs 1.18 lakh fine

for each of them. Five other people involved in the conflict from the opposing

group were sentenced to three years in prison and a Rs 10,000 fine each for

intentionally causing severe harm and assault.

The

case dates back to March 4, 2007.

Krishna Magan, a resident of Saraitha village under Patranga police

station, filed a police report regarding an argument with Ajay Singh. He said that Ajay Singh and his accomplices

were upset over his election as village head, which was worsened by the

termination of a village ration shop licence formerly held by one of Ajay

Singh's cronies. According to the prosecution, Krishna Magan and his buddy

Mansaram went to Shivnagar crossing for tea, when they got into a verbal

confrontation with Ajay Singh and Sahajram Singh. A few time later, Ajay Singh,

Ram Prasad, and others attacked Magan's family members, leaving some gravely

injured. One of the injured, Chetram,

died later at Rudauli Hospital.

Ajay

Singh, Jagannath Singh, Vinod Singh, Krishna Magan Singh, Sahaj Ram Singh,

Karuna Shankar Singh, Sanjay Mishra, Sahab Bakhsh Singh, Munna Singh, Mukut

Singh, Pramod Kumar Singh, and Rakesh Kumar Tiwari have all received life

sentences. Three defendants, Umeshwar Pratap Singh, Bhairav Bakhsh Singh, and

Shankar Bakhsh Singh, were acquitted due to a lack of evidence. Five people on

the other side -- Ram Singh, Mansaram, Amresh Kumar, Nanku, and Sarabjit --

were convicted of assault and causing serious injury. During the lengthy trial,

five more suspects from the second side perished.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi