Prabhu Agarwal at the Bankshall fast-track court before the sentencing. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta

Calcutta, Jan. 29: Prabhu Shankar Agarwal, the bhujia king who turned Haldiram’s into a household name, was today sentenced for life along with four others who had conspired with him to kill a tea-stall owner over a small plot of land.

Agarwal, in his late fifties, stood expressionless in the courtroom as additional sessions judge Tapan Sen read out the punishment in what could be his last conviction before he retires on Saturday.

Once the judge left his chair, the Haldiram Prabhuji owner was heard asking his lawyer Alok Pyne “how long” a life sentence was.

“Life imprisonment means life term,” said Pyne.

“You mean till death?” Agarwal asked.

“Yes,” came the answer.

Earlier, the judge had announced to a buzz in the packed courtroom: “Prabhu Shankar Agarwal, Gopal Tiwari, Arun Khandelwal, Manoj Sharma and Raju Sonkar are sentenced to life imprisonment under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 307 (attempted murder) of the IPC.”

(From top) Raju Sonkar, Arun Khandelwal, Manoj Sharma and Gopal Tiwari

Gopal, Manoj and Raju — the trio hired by Agarwal to kill tea-stall owner Satyanarayan Thakur on March 30, 2005 — received an additional sentence of 10 years in jail along with a fine of Rs 10,000.

Gopal received a third sentence of seven years in jail for illegal possession of guns.

Thakur’s would-be killers had fired two bullets at his nephew Pramod Sharma after mistaking him for their target. Pramod escaped with a thigh injury. Agarwal’s name cropped up in the case after Gopal was arrested in Hyderabad on May 24 that year.

Khandelwal, a business associate, was included in the chargesheet later.

Before the murder attempt, Agarwal had invited Thakur to Binani Dharamshala in Burrabazar on February 27, 2005, and offered him Rs 4 lakh to shift his tea stall that was blocking the entrance of a building he was to construct.

Agarwal today reached fast-track court No. 4 at Bankshall around 10.15am wearing a smile. He did not say anything but waved to his wife, two sons and relatives after getting off the prison van.

Minutes before the court sat, he was heard telling his wife and sister: “Chadar, kambal aur gaddi bhej dena jail me (send bedsheet, blanket and mattress).”

Shortly after the sentences were pronounced, Agarwal’s wife and two sons gave him a piece of sandesh and a bottle of mineral water. After drinking half of the bottle, he offered it to Khandelwal.

Pyne, with whom Agarwal and his sons were seen engrossed in discussions, said he would soon move the high court.

Asked for his reaction, Agarwal threw a blank look.

Gopal was the only one to speak. “I am innocent. The judge gave a verdict that he thought right,” he said, appearing unfazed by the sentence. He was laughing loudly in the cage as he talked to Agarwal’s sons after the judge left.

His wife Kamini cried, standing before her husband, clutching the netting of the cage.

Sonkar asked his family to send a packet of biryani to the jail for dinner before he was taken away.