Liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda, 23 others get life term for murder of Dalit man in Punjab

Liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda and his nephew Amit were among 24 people who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Punjab on Thursday for the murder of a Dalit man in 2015.

A 27-year-old Dalit youth, Bhim Sain Tank, was killed in Shiv Lal Doda’s farmhouse in Punjab’s Abohar on December 11, 2015.

The court of additional sessions judge Jaspal Verma pronounced life term imprisonment besides a fine of Rs 25,000 to each of 24 found guilty. They were convicted under sections 302 (murder), 120-B (conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Another accused was sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment.

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All the accused were present in the court when the judgement was pronounced. In December 2015, Tank and his associate Gurjant Singh were attacked with sharp-edged weapons at Shiv Lal Doda’s farmhouse in Ramsara, where they had gone to resolve a conflict with another group. Both were attacked by Doda’s henchmen. Tank’s limbs were chopped off and he later died at a hospital in Amritsar. Gurjant’s limbs were also severed and sustained serious injuries in the incident.

The incident that took place during previous SAD-BJP regime had sparked outrage in the state and the Congress, which was in opposition at that time, had then accused ruling Akalis of patronising Shiv Lal Doda who then had owed allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal.

He had unsuccessfully fought the 2012 assembly polls as an Independent.

First Published: Aug 08, 2019 17:51 IST