after being sentenced on Wednesday. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary
A Rohtas court on Wednesday awarded life term to four out of the five Maoists, including self-proclaimed area commander Nirala Yadav, earlier convicted for the 2002 murder of then Rohtas divisional forest officer (DFO) Sanjay Kumar Singh.
A court headed by additional district and sessions judge Prabhunath Singh sentenced four Maoists - Nirala Yadav, Ram Bachan Yadav, Nitish Yadav and Lallan Singh Kharbar - to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them. They will have to serve additional one year in jail if they fail to pay the fine.
The fifth convict Sudama Oraon was, however, sentenced 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
In addition, the court fined him Rs 5,000. Oraon would have to undergo a month's additional imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.
Public prosecutor, CBI, Delhi, Deep Narayan said apart from different sections of the Indian Penal Code, the court held them guilty under sections 3(2) (a) and 22 (5) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA).
"Nirala, who was the area commander of the banned Maoist outfit, would first serve 14 years under POTA Act and then life sentence," he said.
Public prosecutor Narayan said the five convicts were sent to the Sasaram district court under tight security.
Defense counsel Bal Mukund Prasad said they would appeal in the high court to challenge the order of the lower court. Surprisingly, no relative of the deceased DFO was present in the court when the judgment was pronounced.
On June 21 this year, the court had held all the five accused guilty.
The family members and supporters of the five convicted Maoists had reached the court in large numbers to know the quantum of punishment.
The district administration had made additional security arrangements on the court premises as a precautionary measure.
DFO Sanjay Kumar Singh was killed by a group of heavily armed Maoists while returning to Rohtas district headquarters town from Rahel forest area after holding a meeting on February 15, 2002.
The investigation conducted by the CBI revealed that the DFO was attacked for his failure to pay extortion money to the Maoists.
The killing of Singh, who was in his mid-thirties, by the rebels for extortion had sent shock waves among locals and the government.
