Bhubaneswar, Dec. 24: The court of the additional district judge, Dharmagarh, today convicted eight of nine persons, including a labour contractor, for chopping off the hands of two migrant labourers from Kalahandi district in a Balangir forest in 2013 and awarded life sentence to all of them.

The trial of the other accused, who was arrested this October, is yet to begin.

The nine persons had chopped off the victims' hands because they had refused to go with the contractors to work in a brick kiln.

The contractor, Pravesh Duni, and his henchmen had chopped off the right hands of Nilambar Dhangadamajhi, 22, and Dialu Niyal, 25, after a group of 12 migrant labourers, including the duo, had managed to escape while being taken to Andhra Pradesh to work in a brick kiln.

Nilambar died this September.

Public prosecutor Dhirendra Nath Patra said the court convicted the accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Codeand Bonded Labour System (Abolition Act).

"Police submitted the preliminary chargesheet in April 2014 and the trial began in October 2015. Eighteen witnesses were examined during the trial. The court has also imposed a penalty of Rs 20,000 on the accused," said Patra.