Bhubaneswar: In a landmark judgment, the Salipur Additional District and Sessions Judge in Cuttack on Wednesday sentenced nine persons to undergo life imprisonment in connection with the highly publicized Mahanga double murder case.
However, the court acquitted one accused due to lack of evidence in connection with the brutal murder of BJP leader Kulamani Baral and his associate Dibyasingh Baral on January 2, 2021.
According to sources, on the fateful day, senior BJP leader Kulamani and his relative Divyasingh (82) were brutally murdered due to a dispute over a housing scheme. A case was filed at Mahanga police station in this connection and 13 persons were named as accused in the case.
However, police arrested 10 people and prosecuted them in court, while the main accused Prafulla Biswal, was absconding. However, he died under suspicious circumstances in a truck accident in February last year.