12 get life imprisonment for killing cloth trader in C'garh

Twelve people have been sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by a court here in Chhattisgarh for murdering a cloth store owner in 2017.

Additional District and Session Judge (V) Aditya Joshi on Wednesday sentenced the convicts and also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 each on them, Additional Public Prosecutor A K Shrivastav said Thursday.

If the convicts fail to pay the fine, they will have to undergo an additional imprisonment of one month each, the court said.

The 12 accused are Vidyanand Rathore (28), Rajesh Rathore (24), Rambhagat Rathore (23), Dron Rathore (23), Yugansh Rathore (18), Rajesh Kurre (19), Rajkumar Sidar (19), Yudhisthir Rathore (20), Bhola Nidhad (19), Gopal Nishad (18), Vikky Singh (20) and Prashant Rathore (20).

The accused, all residents of Dabhra (Janjgri Champa) and Kharsia (Raigarh) areas, were found guilty of killing cloth businessman Arjun Rohda (30) over a minor issue, the prosecutor said.

On September 27, 2017, one of the accused, Vidyanand Rathore, went to Rohda's shop in Mangalbazar area of Kharsia town to return a shirt he had purchased from him.

When Rohda refused to take it back, a scuffle broke out between the two following which Rathore along with his friends brutally thrashed him.

Later, Rohda died in a local hospital, the prosecutor said.

Based on the CCTV footage recovered from spot, the 12 accused were subsequently arrested.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder), 294 (punishing persons indulging in obscene act in any public place causing annoyance to others), 147 (rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly in prosecution of the common object of that assembly), 458 (housebreaking) and 506-b (criminal intimidation).