Seven get life terms for killing ex-MLA: Prosecution

An Azamgarh court has sentenced seven people including a jailed gangster for killing a former MLA of the Sagri assembly constituency here.

A special court set up under the Gangster Act and headed by Additional Sessions Judge Ramanand also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of the convicts for murdering former MLA Sarvesh Singh alias Sipu Singh.

Special Public Prosecutor Vinay Mishra said the court also stipulated that in case of default in payment of fine, the convicts would undergo an additional jail term.

The seven who were sentenced included gangster Dhruv Singh alias Kuntu Singh who is currently lodged in Azamgarh district jail.

Six other convicts were identified as Sangram Singh, Shiv Prakash alias Prakash Yadav, Rajendra Yadav, Rampravesh, Dinesh Singh alias Rampat, and Mrityunjay.

The seven were involved in gunning down the former MLA Sarvesh Singh and his associate Bharat Rai in July 2013.

The police had lodged the case against 11 people but the case was later transferred to the CBI, which probed it, public prosecutor Mishra said.

The court convicted the seven after examining 12 prosecution witnesses, including the slain MLA’s wife Vandana Singh, herself a former legislator, and MLA’s elder brother Santosh Singh alias Tipu Singh.

Reacting to the verdict, Tipu Singh said though he wanted the death sentence for convicts, he respected the court's decision. This decision has come after nine years of the court battle, he said, adding, “We are very happy with this.”

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)