HC grants bail to former MLA Nirmala Devi in Barkagaon case

Ranchi: The Jharkhand high court on Thursday granted bail to former Barkagaon MLA Nirmala Devi who was convicted in the Barkagaon shoot-out case. The court of Justices Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Ambuj Nath while hearing a plea for suspension of sentence of the former MLA allowed her to be released from custody.
Nirmala Devi had been convicted by a special court in the lower judiciary in Ranchi on March 22, 2022 for her involvement in the shoot-out at Barkagaon in 2015 which claimed the lives of several persons. Nirmala Devi along with her spouse and former minister Yogendra Sao were convicted and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The former MLA in her petition mentioned that she remained in custody for a substantial period of time and is a victim of a larger political conspiracy.
The incident dates back to 2015 when both Nirmala Devi and her husband Yogendra Sao were leading an agitation against the government for setting up a thermal power plant in the area. The agitation named ‘kafan satyagrah’ had gained momentum and villagers had stopped work of the thermal project.
The police in the meantime had arrested Nirmala Devi who was leading the mob. After her arrest, the villagers became violent and resorted to stone pelting on the police. The villagers also freed Nirmala Devi from custody and helped her abscond. The police first resorted to a lathi charge but ultimately had to open fire which claimed the lives of several villagers.