A local court sentenced 21 persons to life imprisonment in a six-year-old murder case in Balangir district.
District and Sessions Judge Swarup Kumar Mishra on Saturday awarded the sentence to the accused after they were convicted for killing 50-year-old Nityananda Suna in 2007 over a land dispute and injuring his sister-in-law Raymoti Suna of Ambadora village in the district. A plot of Government land was being cultivated by Nityananda since long. On April 15, 2007, the convicted persons forcibly tried to occupy the land, which triggered an altercation ultimately leading to his death. Out of 23 accused persons, the convicted 21 were present in the court.