Twenty-one persons were convicted and sentenced to life in Kappatralla mass murders by Adoni Sessions Court in Kurnool district on Wednesday.
Of the 21 persons convicted, three died during the course of trial while a total of 48 persons were listed as accused in the case. Out of the 27 persons acquitted, one person died. One of the convicted Diwarkar Naidu was absconding.
It may be called that TDP leader Kappatralla Venkatappa Naidu and 10 others were hacked to death by an armed gang near Kapptralla on May 17, 2008.
The assailants bumped the vehicle in which Venkatappa Naidu was travelling with a lorry and later hacked them to death.
The court, presided by Additional Sessions Judge Subramanyam, has taken serious view of the incident in which the victims were brutally murdered with hunting sickles and other weapons.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each along with the life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the police deployed a large number of troops at Kappatralla and surrounding villages following the judgment.
The supporters of Venkatappa Naidu and his family members hailed the judgment saying it avenged the killings. Meanwhile, the court premises was reverberated with the wails of family members of convicted persons.
SP A. Ravikrishna said the judgment should be an eye opener for those indulging in faction murders.
