Petrol pump owner Pawan Kumar Mittal, the main accused in the sensational murder of Indian Oil sales manager Manjunath, was sentenced to death by a District court on Monday.
Updated at 5:34 pm
LAKHIMPUR KHERI: Petrol pump owner Pawan Kumar Mittal, the main accused in the sensational murder of Indian Oil sales manager Manjunath, was sentenced to death by a district court on Monday, while seven accused were given life imprisonment.
Delivering the verdict in a packed court room, District Judge SMA Abidi said the murder of 27-year-old Manjunath on November 19, 2005 was planned because weapons of different persons residing in different localities were used.
The death sentence will be subject to confirmation by the high court.
The court had convicted the eight accused last Friday for killing the IIM Lucknow graduate who had exposed a racket in the sale of adulterated fuel.
Manjunath was shot dead at a petrol pump at Gola in Lakhimpur Kheri district after he threatened to cancel Mittal's license for selling spurious fuel.
The court punished the eight accused under sections of the Indian Penal Code to imprisonment ranging from six months to seven years and imposed fines on them. The sentences will run concurrently.
The judge felt that the conduct of accused after the incident confirmed that they had participated in the crime.
The accused were convicted under Sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC and provisions of the Arms Act.
Besides Mittal, the others convicted were Devesh Agnihotri, Sanjay Awasthi, Rakesh Anand, Shivkesh Giri, Rajesh Verma, Harish Mishra and Vivek Sharma.
While Harish Mishra had been enlarged on bail, the rest were in jail.
The killing of Manjunath had evoked a sharp reaction from the industry, IIM students and alumni and social organisations, which had demanded punishment to the guilty.
A day after his murder, Manjunath's body was recovered from a car at Maholi in neighbouring Sitapur district. Rakesh Anand and Vivek Sharma, who had gone to Sitapur to dispose of the body, were caught there.
The police filed a chargesheet on February 15 last year and the trial began on March 9. Charges under the IPC and Arms Act were framed on May 19 and examination of witnesses began on June 5.
Twentythree witnesses were examined in the trial; three turned hostile after giving statements to the police.
The court had on March 9 last year reserved its judgement after the counsel for the prosecution and defence cited rulings of the Supreme Court and high courts to press for their points.
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