Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashis Kumar Tripathy on Monday awarded life imprisonment to three persons after convicting them in a kidnapping case.
They were identified as Ugrasen Bag, Umesh Bag and Padman Bag. However, the judge reserved his order against other two accused, Nitu Hial and Dinesh Kadia, who are still at large.
The accused had kidnapped two youths in Kaliapada ghati under Tikiri police limits of the district in 2014.
While the two youths, Rajesh Kumar Sahu and Chhabi Narayan Sahu were returning home from Narayanpatna in a car on August 10, 2014, they were waylaid by five persons in another vehicle in Kaliapada ghati. Then, the two were kidnapped by the five persons and kept hostage at a forest in Muniguda.
The kidnappers demanded Rs 5 lakh to release the two youths.
After receiving a call from Rajesh, his father lodged a complaint at the Tikiri police station. Fearing police action, the kidnappers later released the abductees.