HC upholds life term of 12 for murdering MLA 3 decades ago

The High Court of Tripura on Friday upheld the life imprisonment awarded to 12 people for killing then Congress MLA Parimal Saha 36 years ago. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjoy Karol and Justice Arindam Lodh also handed down life term to another accused who had been acquitted by the trial court in 2016.

Parimal Saha, the then MLA from the Charilam constituency, and his companion Jiten Saha were hacked to death on April 7, 1983, at Office Tilla locality under Bishalgarh police station limits, about 20 kilometers from here. A complaint was lodged with the police against 25 people in connection with the case. The case dragged on for years before the then Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court Deepak Gupta in 2015 ordered its reopening.

Thirty-three years after the killing, additional district and sessions judge of West Tripura on April 30, 2016, convicted 12 of the 17 accused in the murder case and acquitted five. Of the seven other accused, six died during trial and one remains absconding.