Daijiworld Media Network – Kolkata
Kolkata, Jul 29: A district court in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Wednesday sentenced seven convicts to life imprisonment for the murder of local Trinamool Congress leader Dilip Ram near Bandel railway station in 2019.
The seven accused were convicted on Tuesday by the Sessions Court at Chinsurah in Hooghly for the killing of Dilip Ram on June 29, 2019. The same court pronounced their sentence on Wednesday.
Those sentenced include Mohammad Nasim alias Guddu, Saddam Hossain, Mangal Yadav, Baijnath Roy alias Hedek, Mohammad Akbar, Mohammad Shanu and Mohammad Manu. All seven have been sent to judicial custody.
Public Prosecutor Shankar Gangopadhyay said the chargesheet in the case was filed within 90 days by investigating officer Pradeep Da, while statements of 39 witnesses were recorded during the investigation.
He said the prosecution established in court that the accused had conspired to murder Dilip Ram. The testimony of four eyewitnesses and forensic evidence, including the matching of the bullet recovered from the victim with the firearm seized from the convicts, played a key role in the case.
The murder was allegedly linked to a land dispute between Dilip Ram and local drug mafia figure Samundri Yadav alias Sakuntala Devi. According to the prosecution, Sakuntala Devi had allegedly hired contract killers and paid them Rs 3 lakh to eliminate Ram.
The killers reportedly monitored the Naihati local train from platform number 5 of Bandel railway station, as Dilip Ram worked at the railway office in Naihati. On June 29, 2019, he was shot dead on the railway tracks while boarding a train.
Reacting to the verdict, Dilip Ram's wife Nitu said she would have preferred the death penalty for the convicts but expressed satisfaction with the police investigation and the prosecution's arguments in court.
She also pointed out that the alleged main accused, Sakuntala Devi and her son, are still absconding.
The Public Prosecutor said chargesheets have been filed against both and their trial will begin once they are arrested.