Six sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of family over property dispute in UP's Barabanki

Barabanki (UP), Dec 25 (PTI) A local court here has sentenced six people, including a woman, to life imprisonment in a case related to the murder of four members of a family 11 years ago over property, an official said on Thursday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Rakesh Kumar Singh I delivered the verdict on Wednesday and imposed a fine of Rs 75,000 each.

The court held Chandrashekhar, his wife Janki alias Jankalli, and their associates Raju Verma, Arjun Singh, Dinesh Gautam and Jitendra guilty in the case, District Government Counsel Arvind Rajput said.

The incident came to light on February 10, 2014, when Manoj Verma, a resident of Dulhadepur under Dariyabad police station, lodged a complaint stating that he had reached the house of his uncle Shivbaran Verma in Mathuranagar village around 1.30 pm and found the door open.

Inside the house, the bodies of Shivbaran Verma, his wife Rani, their daughter Gudiya Devi and son Nirmal were found lying, he said.

Rani and Nirmal had their hands tied with ropes; plastic nooses were found around the necks of all four, and a foul smell was emanating from the house, raising suspicion of murder.

Police registered a case at Dariyabad police station, and the then investigating officer, Inspector Indresh Kumar, carried out the probe.

The investigation revealed that Chandrashekhar and his wife Janki alias Jankalli allegedly conspired to eliminate Shivbaran Verma and his family to grab his property, and hired Raju Verma, Arjun Singh, Dinesh Gautam and Jitendra to carry out the killings.

After completing the investigation, the police filed a chargesheet in court. The prosecution produced material witnesses, and after hearing arguments from both sides, the court found all six accused guilty and awarded them life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 75,000 each, the counsel said. PTI COR CDN HIG HIG