Mathura: All 11 former policemen from Rajasthan convicted for killing Raja Man Singh of the erstwhile Bharatpur royal family and his two colleagues over 35 years ago in Deeg area of the state were awarded life sentence by a court here on Wednesday.

The convicts, who were sentenced to life term by Mathura District Judge Sadhna Rani Thakur, include former Deeg Dy SP Kan Singh and local police station in-charge, sub-Inspector Virendra Singh, who had led a police team in killing Raja Man Singh and his two colleagues Sumer Singh and Hari Singh on February 21, 1985 in an encounter.

The other policemen sentenced for the crime are Sukh Ram, Jeevan Ram, Jag Mohan, Bhanwar Singh, Hari Singh, Chhatar Singh, Sher Singh, Daya Ram and Ravi Shekhar.

The encounter had taken place in Deeg grain market a day after Raja Man Singh, then contesting the state Vidhan Sabha election as an independent candidate, had allegedly banged his jeep into former Rajasthan's chief minister Shiv Charan Mathur's helicopter.

According to the prosecution, he was also accused of damaging some publicity material and a stage set up for Mathur to address an election rally in favour of the Congress candidate Brajendra Singh, a retired IAS officer, the prosecution had told the court.

Days after the killings of the royal family chief and his two colleagues, the case was transferred by the then central government to the CBI on February 27, 1985.

The trial was later shifted from a Jaipur special court to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh by the Supreme Court in November 1989 on the plea of complainant Vijay Singh, a son-in-law of the slain chief of the erstwhile riyasat.