The District and Sessions Judge on Tuesday sentenced eight persons to life imprisonment and imposed Rs 10,000 fine on them for killing an ex-Sarpanch on June 8, 2016 near Chandibazar chowk of Cuttack-Chandabali road over for political rivalry.
The accused persons were identified as Sumant Das (former sarpanch of Singiri GP), Khirod Das, Pitambar Nayak, Ashis Das, Sachidananda Prusty , Basant Sethy, Sumant Padhi and Bijay Mallick.
On June 8, 2016, the then Sarpanch Chitrasen Das, along with his cousin Subhajit Das was going to Aul for panchayat work in a bike, when they were chased near Chandibazar by Sumant and Khirod of Singiri and their associates . Later, Chitrasen was allegedly beaten to death by Sumant and Khirod and their associates.
Chitransen’s cousin brother Subhajit Das managed to flee from the spot and disclosed the matter before the family members. Later, Khirod Kumar Das, the uncle of the deceased, had lodged an FIR at Aul police station. The case was transferred to Crime branch on September 27, 2016. The Crime Branch in January 2017 had arrested Khirod, a prime accused in the murder case from Kolkata.
District Sessions Judge Gopal Chandra Behera examined 39 witnesses and other evidences before passing the order.