Jamshedpur, July 6: Curtains came down today on the Nirmal Mahto murder case with the conviction of two of the main accused by the fast track court of A.K. Gupta. The sentence, however, will be pronounced by the court on July 14.

Nirmal Mahto, elder brother of the present leader of the Opposition Sudhir Mahto, was shot dead at the Chamaria guest house here in 1987. He was the president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha at the time.

One of the other accused, Birendra Singh, had been arrested, tried and convicted earlier. While Singh, a Congress party activist, was convicted to life imprisonment in 2000 and died in jail two years ago, his brother Narendra and cousin Dhirendra were convicted today.

Nirmal Mahto, a popular leader, was shot dead in broad daylight and his murder not just caused a sensation in 1987 but also strained relations between the JMM and the Congress. Mahto had arrived at the Chamaria guest house for confabulations with Congress leaders like Gyan Ranjan and the then JMM leader Suraj Mandal. His murder, it was widely believed, was designed to eliminate a promising politician and a potential rival. But even the CBI, which had been handed over the case, failed to establish the motive.

The agency, however proceeded against the two brothers and their cousin because all three of them had absconded, reinforcing suspicion in the crime.

Following the arrest of Birendra Singh, his cousin Dhirendra also surrendered in 2000, while the CBI managed to arrest Narendra alias Pandit from Golmuri in 2001.

The CBI special prosecutor, Aniruddh Mahapatra, said the prosecution had examined over 40 witnesses and established that the accused were present at the place of occurrence; moreover, forensic and ballistic reports and the firearms recovered from the accused, he said, had proved their complicity in the crime.

Sudhir Mahto was among those who was present today in the courtroom. ?Justice delayed, not denied?, he quipped, ?I am pleased that the assassins have finally been convicted.?