8 get life in jail for lynching 2 Jharkhand 'cattle thieves'

RANCHI: Additional district and session judge of Latehar civil court on Friday sentenced eight persons to rigorous life imprisonment in connection with a mob lynching case in which two suspected cattle thieves were killed and hanged on a tree near Jhabar village in Jharkhand's Latehar district in March, 2016.

ADJ-1 Rishikesh Kumar also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on the convicts with the direction that they would have to undergo additional one year in prison in case of default in payment.

The convicts - Vishal Tiwari, Sahdeo Soni, Mithlesh Prasad Sahu, Awadhesh Sahu, Arun Sah, Manoj Sah, Pramod Sao and Manoj Sao - were held guilty on Wednesday under Section 302 and 34 of IPC. The convicts had murdered Majlom Ansari (35) and Imtiaz Khan (12) while they were going to sell cattle. The police had registered a case in this connection.

Additional public prosecutor Balram Choudhary said: "During the argument on the point of sentencing, I pleaded for the maximum sentence for the guilty. The defence lawyer prayed for lenient view by saying the guilty persons have been convicted for the first time."