Jharkhand MLA Enos Ekka gets life term for murdering para-teacher

Enos Ekka was accused of hatching a conspiracy with members of banned outfit People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) to kill para-teacher Manoj Kumar.

india Updated: Jul 04, 2018 00:08 IST
Body of para-teacher Manoj Kumar was found in the woods near the school on November 27, 2014.(Representative image)

A local court in Simdega on Tuesday sentenced Kolebira legislator and former minister Enos Ekka to life imprisonment for murdering a para-teacher Manoj Kumar in November, 2014.

With pronouncement of the sentence, Ekka, an independent MLA, would lose membership of the assembly in the light of a 2013 Supreme Court’s ruling. According to the ruling, convicted MPs and MLAs sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years would be treated as disqualified from the membership of either house of the Parliament or state assembly with immediate effect.

Communicating the sentence through videoconferencing, the court of district and additional sessions judge Neeraj Kumar Srivastava on Tuesday also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Ekka, who is currently lodged at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi. The fine amount would be paid to the victim’s family. In default of payment of fine, Ekka will have to serve additional three years in prison.

Earlier on June 30, the court had held Ekka and another co-accused Dhaneshar Baraik guilty of murder and conspiracy under sections 302 and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Ekka was accused of hatching a conspiracy with members of banned outfit People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) to kill the para-teacher. The other convict- ed person Dhaneshar Baraik was an associate of the killers and was charged with passing information about the deceased to them.

disqualified by courts
SEPT 2013: RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Lok Sabha
◼ JD (U) leader Jagdish Sharma from Lok Sabha
NOV 2014: Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (P) legislator Nizammudin Ansari from assembly
JUNE 2015: All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party legislator Kamal Kishore Bhagat from assembly
JAN 2018: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislator Yogendra Prasad from assembly
MARCH 2018: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislator Amit Mahto from assembly

The body of Manoj Kumar, who taught at Upgraded Middle School, Jatatand, was found in the woods near the school on November 27, 2014.

According to the police, Manoj Kumar was a leader of para-teachers and supporter of Ekka. It was alleged that during 2014 assembly election, he turned against Ekka, infuriating him.

Arguing on the point of sentence, advocate Abhay Mishra, representing the informant Sanjay Kumar, brother of the deceased para teacher, said that Ekka, being a lawmaker, had committed a grave crime.

“The evidences collected against him show that he had links with an outlawed outfit PLFI. Ekka used PLFI members to kill the teacher,” Mishra said.

Ekka, became the fourth legislator of Jharkhand’s current (fourth) assembly who was convicted and sentenced to more than two years of imprisonment.