Guwahati, Apr 6 (IANS): More than four years after the brutal killing of five adivasi people, a National Investigating Agency (NIA) court in Assam recently convicted one Gautam Mahalia for his involvement in the attack in December 2014.

The Special Judge, NIA Assam, after allowing the petition of the accused for pleading guilty of the offences sentenced Mahalia to four-and-a-half years of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.

The court said the sentences would run concurrently. This is the first conviction in this case and third in a series of cases registered after the ethnic killings carried out by National Democratic Front of Bodoland (anti-talks faction) terrorists at various places in Assam in December 23, 2014.

In Kokrajhar incident, the NDFB(S) terrorists attacked innocent people of Pakiriguri village under Serfanguri Police Station and killed five persons while seriously injuring five others.

The accused has been in judicial custody since his arrest in January, 2015.