Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow

Lucknow, Jul 7: A Special CBI Court in Lucknow on Tuesday sentenced three men to life imprisonment and imposed a combined fine of Rs 1.5 lakh in connection with the 2002 murder of advocate Inder Dev Singh.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the court awarded life terms to Vikram Yadav alias Vikram Kalia, Brijesh Yadav alias Munna and Panna Singh alias Paana after finding them guilty of the murder.

The case was originally registered at Kaisar Bagh Police Station in Lucknow on August 8, 2002, following a complaint lodged by the victim's wife.

Subsequently, the Uttar Pradesh government transferred the investigation to the CBI, which formally took over the case on September 4, 2002, by re-registering the FIR.

After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on August 7, 2003, against six accused — Manna Lal Verma, Ved Prakash Lohia, Panna Singh, Vikram Singh, Chhote Lal alias Chhotu Yadav and Brijesh Kumar Yadav.

Following the trial, the Special CBI Court convicted Vikram Yadav, Brijesh Yadav and Panna Singh on June 30, before pronouncing the sentence of life imprisonment on Tuesday.

The proceedings against the remaining three accused — Manna Lal Verma, Ved Prakash Lohia and Chhote Lal alias Chhotu Yadav — were closed after they died during the course of the trial.

In a separate case, a Special CBI Court in Pune sentenced two proprietors of private firms to three years of rigorous imprisonment for their involvement in a bank fraud case that caused a wrongful loss of more than Rs 5.5 crore to the State Bank of Hyderabad.

The convicted individuals were identified as Chandrakant Lodha, proprietor of Chandrakant S. Lodha & Co., and Paresh Thakkar, proprietor of Thakkar and Sons. The court delivered its verdict in the case on Monday, the CBI said.