Twenty-three workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were sentenced to life in jail by a district court in Bankura on Thursday in the 24-year-old case of murder of three villagers.
“The court also imposed ₹10,000 in fine on each of the accused and one more year in jail if they failed to pay the fine,” public prosecutor Arunkumar Chattopadhyay told The Hindu.
On March 12, 1993, three villagers were hacked to death by the Left party supporters at Raibandh in the Bankura Sadar sub-division. Pramatha Rana, 52, and Ranit Rana, 36, died on the spot. Anil Rana, 38, died of injuries at a hospital. Eight other villagers were injured.
CPI(M) district secretary Ajit Pati said most of the accused were his party workers, but there was no political link to the killings. “It followed a land dispute.”
“Initially FIR was lodged against 37 persons out of which 23 was sentenced today,” said Mr. Chattopadhyay. Besides Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, the accused were charged under several Sections, including Section 323/149 (unlawful assembly with common intention).
Anil Rana’s brother Arjun Rana said he and his three brothers were working in their farmland. “Suddenly, the CPI(M) workers gathered there and attacked us after an altercation over a dispute. I was also severely injured,” Mr. Arjun Rana said.
