Patna, Sept. 6: A Gaya court today awarded life imprisonment to Rocky Yadav, who was convicted last week for shooting dead Class XII student Aditya Sachdeva in a burst of road rage in May 2016.

The district and sessions court also sentenced Rocky's father Bindi Yadav to five years in prison for sheltering his son when he was on the run from the law. Also handed out life terms were Rocky's cousin Teni Yadav and Rajesh Kumar, the bodyguard of Rocky's lawmaker-mother Manorama Devi.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Rocky, Rs 50,000 each on Teni and Rajesh and Rs 5,000 on Bindi. Rocky would have to serve another two years in jail, the remaining two life convicts an additional one year and Bindi five more months if they failed to pay the fine, the court ruled.

District and sessions judge-I Sachchidanand Prasad Singh pronounced the order in a jam-packed courtroom.

Public prosecutor Sar Taj Ali Khan pleaded for the "severest (read capital) punishment" for the convicts as they had killed a promising 17-year-old student - Aditya - when he was returning home from a birthday party with friends on the evening of May 7, 2016.

The defence team said they would challenge the order. "We will file an appeal in the high court," said Anil Sinha, the legal counsel of the convicts.

Rocky's mother Manorama Devi, a member of the Bihar Legislative Council, was suspended from the Janata Dal United after chief minister Nitish Kumar came to know about the involvement of her son in the murder. A separate case was lodged against her under provisions of the Excise and Prohibition Act 2016 following recovery of liquor bottles from her house.

Rocky, whose official name is Rakesh Kumar Ranjan, was found guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 427 (mischief causing damage) and Section 27 of the Arms Act. His father Bindi was held guilty under sections 212 (harbouring the offender) and 177 (furnishing false information). Teni and Rajesh were convicted for abetment of crime, criminal conspiracy and hiding information.

A senior police officer, who was instrumental in gathering evidence against the accused, said: "The trial of the case was based on scientific evidence. All the four eyewitnesses had virtually turned hostile during trial. The forensic report established that the bullet that hit Aditya was fired with the Beretta pistol owned by Rocky."

Call record details of Rocky and his associates' mobile phones helped the police to establish that they were present at the spot. The investigating officer told the court that the engine of the Land Rover Discovery in which Rocky was travelling was hot when he visited his house soon after the incident.

According to the prosecution, Rocky got agitated after the Maruti Swift car in which Aditya was travelling with his friends didn't allow his SUV right of way on the Bodhgaya-Gaya road on the night of May 7, 2016.

Rocky first fired his pistol in the air as a warning. When the Swift pulled over, he got out, beat up the boys and then shot Aditya, then a Class XII student, who was in the rear seat of the car. "Don't you know who I am?" Rocky asked the teenagers.

After being underground for over 50 hours after the incident, Rocky was nabbed from a factory owned by his father not too far from their Gaya home. The Beretta pistol, which was used in the crime, was also recovered from his possession. The police filed the chargesheet in the court within a month.

What followed was a 16-month-long ordeal for the Sachdeva family, with the case against the powerful father-son duo hitting hurdle after hurdle.

Rocky was granted bail by Patna High Court on October 19, 2016. The bail was challenged in the Supreme Court. Rocky had to surrender in the court on October 29, after the Supreme Court stayed the high court order. Then key witnesses turned hostile, dealing another blow to the Sachdeva family in their quest for justice.

Reacting to the order of the order, Aditya's father K.S. Sachdeva said: "The police worked hard to get the offenders punished for the crime they have committed. My son was killed for no fault of his. I will appeal to the parents to restrain their wards from falling into bad company."

Aditya's mother Chanda Sachdeva turned emotional. "My whole world has turned topsy-turvy. The only solace is that the killers have been punished," she said, her voice choking.