An East Singhbhum district sessions court on Tuesday sentenced four persons, including a woman, to life imprisonment in the 2005 murder of a Jamshedpur transporter.

Sharpshooter Surya Patel (52), his wife Uma Patel (45), BJP leader Niraj Singh (40) and their aide Santosh Agrawal (45) were convicted last Friday for killing Kulraj Singh (32) who was shot dead in front of his house in Bistupur's Gurdwara Basti on April 11 nearly 12 years ago. The court has also slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 on each of the convicts.

Kulraj had been targeted while he was reading the morning newspaper under a tree. He was rushed to Tata Main Hospital, but was declared brought dead.

Police had registered a case against Patel, his wife and the others based on an FIR lodged by the victim's sister-in-law who had seen two bikers escaping. The Patels are neighbours of the victim, but they were never in good terms. A resident of Laxminagar in Telco and another person who witnessed the killing helped police nail the four.

When Kulraj was murdered, Patel was lodged in Sakchi divisional jail. However, the prosecution proved in court that the couple hatched the conspiracy with Niraj and Santosh because Kulraj had allegedly assaulted Uma while her husband was serving a sentence in another case.

The four convicts have been shifted to Ghaghidih Central Jail.

Mother of Santosh, who is a resident of Kadma, said her son was innocent and that they would move Jharkhand High Court against Tuesday's sentencing.

Niraj Singh, who was the BJP's Ulidih Mandal president, has resigned from his post.