A local court today awarded life sentence to three persons and 10 years' rigorous imprisonment to two others in the kidnap and murder of a mines trader in 2007 in Bhubaneswar.
Additional District Judge Court-II, Bhubaneswar, Ishan Kumar Das sentenced prime accused Hyder and two of his associates - Bhabani Shankar Nayak and Sarat Sahoo- to life imprisonment.
The court awarded 10 year rigorous imprisonment to two others Ganapati Ray and Jajati while acquitting six persons due to lack of evidence in the case relating to the murder of Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra.
The court took the statements of 46 witnesses into account before convicting the five persons of kidnapping and murder.
The mines trader was abducted from Sahid Nagar area in the state capital on May 27, 2007 when he had come to purchase marble slabs.
The abductors later demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore from Mohapatra's family members who had paid Rs 1 crore for his release.
However, his charred body was recovered from a place near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.
The body was identified through DNA test and some other materials recovered from nearby.
