Eight get life term for murder in Court premises 11 years ago

, Oct 19: A local court has sentenced eight persons, including a former Corporator, to life imprisonment for murdering a history-sheeter in the court premises here in June 2002.

Over 11 years after the sensational killing of Pintoo Shirke, a notorious goon, on the premises of Nagpur District and Sessions Court, eight persons, who, too, have criminal background, were found guilty. District and Additional Sessions Judge S D Jagmalani handed life imprisonment to them yesterday.

Those convicted include Vijay Mate, a former Corporator. The Court, however, acquitted six other accused for lack of evidence. Among 16 arrested in the case, one Sachin Gawande passed away in May this year, while another Raju Gaikwad is still at large.

The Judge pronounced the verdict in a jam-packed courtroom and police had maintained strict vigil inside and outside the premises. Shirke was murdered by a group of assailants on the sixth floor of the court on June 19, 2002, while he was being brought with three others for proceedings in a murder case.

The killing was said to be an outcome of dispute over encroachment by Mate, then a Corporator, on a property belonging to Shirke. About 39 eyewitnesses, 10 of them policemen, were examined by the Court.

PTI