Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Nov 11: A Hooghly district court in West Bengal on Tuesday handed life sentences to eight CPI-M workers for the murder of Trinamool Congress activist Khudiram Hembram, a case dating back 15 years.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanjay Kumar Sharma of the Chinsurah court pronounced the sentence in the long-pending case.
Hembram was killed on March 18, 2010, the day of his son’s Higher Secondary examination. After finishing his farm work, he had visited a friend, Tapan Ruidas, but did not return home. His body, reportedly hacked and dumped in a sack in the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) canal, was discovered the following day.
The murder, allegedly politically motivated, prompted Ruidas to file a complaint at Gurap police station on the night of March 19. Following an investigation, 10 CPI-M workers were arrested, facing charges including murder, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy.
During the trial, 12 witnesses testified, including four eyewitnesses. Two accused, Amar Ruidas and Nepal Malik, died during the proceedings. On November 6, the court convicted the remaining eight accused: Ravi Baske, Laxmi Ram Baske, Siddheshwar Malik, Sanatan Malik, Ganesh Malik, Laxminarayan Soren, Nadu Tudu, and then Gurbari-1 panchayat chief Lalu Hansda.
The judgment brings closure to a politically sensitive case that had remained unresolved for over a decade.