Bhubaneswar, July 28: A local court in Titilagarh today sentenced four accused in the murder of BJD leader Abhimanyu Sahoo to life imprisonment, bringing to an end after nearly four years a case that had shaken the establishment.

The four convicts are Alok Das, Jagdish Bag, Dinesh Singh and Santosh Rana. Das, the prime accused, has been fined Rs 20,000.

Sahoo, an up and coming BJD leader, was murdered on the morning of December 15, 2013, while he was out on a walk. The murder had sparked off a political controversy with his supporters alleging that his murder was the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy as he was a frontrunner for a BJD ticket from the Titilagarh Assembly constituency. The government later had handed over the probe to the crime branch.

Sahoo's wife, Tukuni, later contested the 2014 Assembly election on a BJD ticket from the segment and won.

Special public prosecutor Dharanidhar Nayak said: "It was a difficult and challenging case because there were no witnesses to the murder. The prosecution was based on CCTV footage, call records and circumstantial evidence."

The incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed outside a nearby house.

Nayak said the motive was both political and business rivalry. Sahoo's wife thanked the investigating agency and said: "I expect those who masterminded the crime to be brought to book."