Five get life term in 2007 triple murder case in UP

A special court in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday sentenced five persons to life imprisonment in a 2007 triple murder case in Bhaju village here.

The accused -- Ravinder, Anuj, Nitu, Sanjay and Bijender -- were held guilty by special court judge Pankaj Kumar Agarwal on July 20 and the day of their sentencing was fixed for July 24.

The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 1,12,000 on each of the accused and ordered them to pay Rs 1,50,000 from the fine amount each to the families of the three deceased.

According to government lawyer Anjum Khan, a woman gram pradhan of Bhaju village, Sukhbiri, her son Dharmendra and her Dalit servant Ramesh were shot dead in August 2007 after 11 men allegedly attacked their house in the district over some dispute regarding panchayat elections.

Pratap, one of the 11 accused, had died before the case went for trial.

The court had acquitted five other men -- Harender, Vicky, Saddam, Pradeep, Jitendra -- due to the lack of evidences against them.