BJP leader's son gets five-year prison term for murder

A court in Manipur on Friday sentenced Nongthombam Ajay, son of state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson N. Biren, to five years imprisonment.

High court advocate A. Romenkumar said: "As the sentence will run concurrently, he will be in prison for five years."

The District and Sessions Court, Imphal west, sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment for murdering a student, Irom Roger, on March 21, 2011 near the Tulihal international airport in Imphal.

He has been fined Rs 10 lakh and failure to pay it would make him liable for a prison term of a further two years.

He was also sentenced to four years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 under the Arms Act.

The court directed that the fine of Rs 10 lakh be paid to the victim's family.

In view of the seriousness of the crime, the government handed the case over to the CBI.

The convict's father Biren had been a minister in the Congress government led by Okram Ibobi Singh.

According to reports, Biren was given the BJP ticket from his Heingang constituency.

In the recent past, there were demands from some BJP workers of the constituency to expel Biren from the party in view of the conviction of his son in the murder case.

--IANS

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