A court in Odisha’s Ganjam district sentenced five people to life imprisonment after convicting them for the murder of a 66-year-old businessman six years ago.
The convicts were identified as Rupesh Padhy (30), Shiva Mahakuda (29), Ranjit Sahu (29), Srinu Patra (34) and Shankar Sahu (31).
The court of the third additional district and sessions judge B Goutam also imposed a fine of Rs 13,000 for each convict. If they fail to pay the fine, they are required to serve an additional four months of rigorous imprisonment.
Public prosecutor (PP) Biswajit Baral stated that the court reached its verdict following the review of documentation and the testimonies of 41 witnesses.
The incident occurred during the night of June 13 and 14, 2020, when the convicts broke into the office-cum-residence of the deceased, identified as Lambodar Muni, a distributor of milk and milk products, at Hillpatna area, with the intent to commit dacoity.
The group smothered Muni to death before fleeing with gold ornaments and cash. Notably, the crime took place amid a 48-hour shutdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
As per the direction of the High Court, the crime branch in 2023 took over the investigation of the murder case, said Barala.
