J'khand HC commutes death penalty of 2 Maoists convicted of killing 6 policemen to life imprisonment

Ranchi, Dec 11 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday commuted the death sentence of two Maoists convicted in the 2013 murder of six policemen, including Pakur SP Amarjit Balihar, into life imprisonment.

After hearing the appeals filed by Pravir Murmu and Santan Baskey, Justice Gautam Kumar Choudhary commuted the death sentence given by the Dumka sessions court.

The death sentence was given on September 26, 2018, after which the convicts had challenged it before the high court.

A division bench of the HC on July 20 differed in its judgment. While Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay was in favour of acquitting the convicts due to a lack of evidence, Justice Sanjay Prasad affirmed the death sentence awarded.

The judgment was then posted before Justice Gautam Kumar Choudhary for his consideration.

After having gone through the materials on record, Justice Choudhary observed that the six policemen were killed due to the involvement of the convicts.

The court held that the injured policemen, who were part of the team, were eyewitnesses to the incident, and the involvement of the two convicts has been proved.

Justice Choudhary observed that the incident is a direct hit on the legal system established in society, and the conviction of the duo has not been questioned.

The court held that instead of awarding the death sentence, the convicts should undergo life imprisonment.

The incident dates back to July 2, 2013, when Balihar and his team of policemen were ambushed by Maoists.

The Maoists had opened fire on two police vehicles, claiming the lives of Rajiv Kumar Sharma, Manoj Hembram, Chandan Kumar Thapa, Ashok Kumar Srivastava and Santosh Kumar Mandal, besides Balihar.

Lebenius Marandi and Dhanraj Maraiya, who were part of the team, had survived the carnage. PTI CORR ANB SOM