Kolkata, July 29 (IANS) A district court in West Bengal’s Hooghly on Wednesday sentenced seven convicted persons in connection with the murder of a local Trinamool Congress leader seven year ago at Bandel in the same district to life imprisonment.
These seven individuals were convicted on Tuesday by the judge of Sessions court at Chinsurah in Hooghly district for the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Dilip Ram near Bandel railway station in the same district on June 29, 2019.
On Wednesday, the judge of the same court sentenced them to seven years of life imprisonment.
The seven individuals who were sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday included Mohammad Nasim alias Guddu, Saddam Hossain, Mangal Yadav, Baijnath Roy alias Hedek, Mohammad Akbar, Mohammad Shanu and Mohammad Manu.
All seven accused have been sent to judicial custody so far.
The Public Prosecutor in the case, Shankar Gangopadhyay, said that the chargesheet was submitted by the Investigating Officer Pradeep Da within 90 days.
“The statements of 39 people were recorded. It has been proven in court that the miscreants had conspired to kill Dilip Ram. The statements of four eyewitnesses in the case were testified and the matching of the bullet inside Dilip’s head with the firearm recovered from the convicted persons were done,” Gangopadhyay added.
It is learnt that Dilip Ram’s murder was fallout of a land-related rivalry that he had with a local drug mafia Samundri Yadav alias Sakuntala Devi.
The latter hired contract killers to eliminate Dilip Ram and also paid Rs 3 lakh to the killers.
The killers kept track of the Naihati local train from platform number 5 of Bandel station every day.
The deceased Trinamool Congress leader worked in the railway office in Naihati.
On June 29, 2019, Dilip Ram was shot dead on the railway tracks while he was boarding a train.
Giving her reactions to the media persons on the life sentence for the seven accused, Ram’s wife Nitu said she would have been happier had the seven convicts were awarded the death sentence.
“However, I am happy over the manner in which the police probe my husband’s death and the manner in which the public prosecutor argued the case in the court. The main accused in the case Sakuntala Devi and her son are still missing.
“The police have issued a chargesheet against both of them. As soon as they are arrested , their trial will begin,” the Public Prosecutor said.
–IANS
src/khz
