Berhampur: The district and sessions court of Ganjam district today awarded life imprisonment to 11 persons for killing of a 31-year old history-sheeter about 11 years ago.
The court pronounced the verdict after recording the statements of 26 witnesses and some other relative documents in connection to the murder of Shanti Mishra of Berhampur on January 29, 2013, after.
The accused persons who have sentenced life term are identified as Rakesh Panda, Tukuna Behera, Santosh Kumar Sahu, Mrutunjay Sabat, Santosh Panigrahy, Budu Das, Ganesh Panigrahy, Sk Sarif, Babaji Ransa, Sankarshana Padhy and Shankar Behera-all are the residents of Berhampur.
At least 13 persons have been implicated in Mishra’s murder case over previous enmity. While one of them, identified as Mouja Mishra, remained absconded, another one, identified as Ranjit Panighrahi died during the trial of the case, sources said.
The court has sentenced 11 other accused persons after finding them guilty in the sensational murder case, they said.
According to police, the accused persons killed Mishra, also a criminal, by blasting bombs. His body was recovered from the nearby pond by the local people. Mishra was involved in at least 22 crime cases.