A Barrackpore additional district and sessions judge’s court on Tuesday sentenced Trinamool Congress councillor Tarak Guha and four others to life imprisonment for lynching a man suspected of theft 10 years ago.

Guha, the councillor of ward 11 of Panihati municipality, and his brother Nepal Guha were convicted, along with Joydev Mukherjee, Shyamal Das and Haripada Sarkar.

The sentencing came just days after Guha was arrested on February 20 while attending court, following years of ignoring multiple summonses. The court had rejected his bail plea.

The case dates back to September 25, 2014, when a mob in the Panihati area lynched local fish trader Shambhu Chakraborty.

The violence was triggered by allegations that Chakraborty had stolen ₹10,000 from a temple donation box during Durga Puja. Although Guha was not an elected representative at the time, he was influential in the area. He allegedly used his political clout to cover up the incident after the lynching.

A few years later, a case was filed in the Barrackpore court, leading to repeated summonses for Guha, which he continually evaded. Khardah police eventually filed a chargesheet against eight people, but Guha was not arrested at that time. During the trial, three of the accused were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

Last week, Guha finally appeared in court in response to a summons. However, Third Additional District and Sessions Judge Ayan Kumar Banerjee ordered his immediate arrest. Within a week, the court delivered its verdict.

On February 21, Guha and four others were convicted, and on Tuesday, all five were sentenced to life imprisonment. Additionally, the court directed them to pay ₹10,000 to Shambhu Chakraborty’s family.