MP court awards life imprisonment to five for killing cop, injuring another

A special court here sentenced five persons to life imprisonment for killing a policeman and injuring another before freeing a prisoner from their custody 16 years ago.

In the judgement pronounced on Wednesday, Special Judge Rakesh Kumar Goyal held the accused -- Kamlesh, Munnalal, Anil, Gyanesh and Diwan -- guilty under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of them, additional public prosecutor Raghvendra Sharma said.

On July 25, 2003, the convicts, along with a few others, had attacked a police team that was escorting a criminal, Ravi alias Om Prakash, to Sabalgarh in Madhya Pradesh, after producing him in Sheopur district court, he said.

Constable Mahesh Sharma was shot dead by one of the convicts. Another policeman, Narendra Jadon, was also shot at and he had sustained grievous injuries, he said.

According to the public prosecutor, the convicts then stopped the train and fled with Ravi, who was killed in a police encounter in November 2003.

Two others involved in the attack on the police party -- Vikas Sikarwar and Pakash Shukrawar -- were also killed in the same encounter, he said.

After the court verdict, the five convicts were taken to Sabalgarh jail, the prosecution said, adding that one of the accused in the case, Kamal Rawat, is absconding.