Mumbai: Two get life term for actor’s murder

The prosecution had sought death penalty for the two.

A SESSIONS court has sentenced two accused of murdering actor Meenakshi Thapa in 2012 to life imprisonment. Amitkumar Jaiswal (41) and Alveena alias Preeti Surin (32) were on Wednesday found guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence in the case.

The prosecution had sought death penalty for the two. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had submitted that the manner of the murder and the brutality in committing it should be considered while deciding the quantum of punishment. Meenakshi’s headless body was found in a water tank days after her murder in Allahabad, close to Surin’s father’s home.

Meenakshi was as an actor and model and was lured by the accused duo, who worked as coordinators in the industry. They allegedly told her to travel with them to Gorakhpur on the false pretext of a shoot there. Meenakshi was taken to the house of Surin in Allahabad, where she was allegedly killed and then beheaded. The accused allegedly dumped her headless body in a trunk to evade being detected. They then called Meenakshi’s mother and sought Rs 15 lakh as ransom.

Nikam had told the court that this showed that the accused did not have any remorse or repentance for the murder. He had submitted that since the case fell in the rarest of rare category, it could attract death penalty.