Rayagada: Bringing closure to a decade-old murder case that had stirred widespread discussion in Rayagada town, the District and Sessions Court on Tuesday sentenced five members of a family to life imprisonment for the 2015 killing of K. Apla Narayan.
Judge Satyanarayan Sarangi delivered the verdict, imposing a fine of ₹10,000 on each convict, with an additional one-year imprisonment prescribed in case of non-payment.
According to the details of the case, the victim, K. Apla Narayan, worked as a labourer with the Food Corporation of India and lived near Majhighariani Mandap in Budurabalsa Sahi. In 2015, he was allegedly attacked in an organised manner inside the neighbourhood by a group who harboured longstanding enmity against him. The assault proved fatal, leading to his murder.
The five convicts—P. Suriya Rao, P. Shankar Rao, P. Shrinu, P. Trinath Rao and P. Satya—were all found guilty of orchestrating and executing the attack. Each of them belongs to the same family, a detail that had added to the case’s notoriety over the years.
The prosecution was represented by public prosecutor Bikram Narayan Kundu, who argued the case on behalf of the government.
