Raurkela: A court in Rourkela has sentenced two men to rigorous imprisonment for life for murdering a Jharkhand resident who had come to attend a wedding feast in Sundaragada district in 2017.
Additional District Judge Muktiranjan Satapathy convicted Jogeswar Sahu of Sanjojada village under Bisra police station limits and Jahuran Badaik after examining the evidence, witness testimonies and arguments presented by both sides.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each convict, with an additional one-year imprisonment in case of default in payment.
According to the case details, the victim, identified as Lalu Gop of Jharkhand, had visited Jogeswar’s house on June 11 and 12, 2017, to attend the wedding celebrations of his daughter. He had also helped serve food to the guests.
On June 13, a post-wedding feast was organised at Jogeswar’s house, which was attended by Jahuran Badaik and his wife. After the feast, Lalu stayed back at the house.
During the night, Jogeswar reportedly found Lalu missing and, upon stepping outside, saw him quarrelling with Jahuran. Jahuran allegedly accused Lalu of having an illicit relationship with his wife.
Following the altercation, Jogeswar chased Lalu, who fell down after running some distance. Jahuran then allegedly struck him on the head with a large stone, while Jogeswar assaulted him with kicks and punches and strangled him.
After killing Lalu, the two accused allegedly tied stones to his legs and waist and dumped his body into a well located around two kilometres from the crime scene to conceal the murder.
On June 20, 2017, police recovered an unidentified body from the well at Sanjojada village. A stone tied to the victim’s leg raised suspicion of murder, prompting police to investigate the case accordingly. The deceased was subsequently identified as Lalu Gop, and the investigation led to the arrest of the two accused.
Additional Public Prosecutors Ambika Prasad Singh and Rabi Shankar Mishra conducted the prosecution, while the then Bisra police station officer-in-charge Prabhat Biswal was the investigating officer.
