Life imprisonment for three for murdering Seva Dal leader

New Delhi, Nov 19 (UNI) A city court today sentenced three men to life imprisonment for murdering a businessman and local Congress Seva Dal leader Surinder Gupta.

Additional Sessions Judge S P Sarwaria after hearing arguments of the prosecution and the defence convicted the main accused, Sushil(25), Suresh(23) and Dilip(31), based primarily on the eyewitness account of Subodh Kumar who worked for Gupta.

Gupta was stabbed and shot dead at the South Extension market in May 2003.

According to police, Gupta, who owned a restaurant in South Extension market, was killed because he owed Rs 2.5 lakh to Sushil and Rs 50,000 to Suresh.

The accused were arrested from Greater Noida and a countrymade weapon had been seized from their possession. Police arrested them after receiving information that they were missing from their respective residences.

On the day of the murder, Gupta was heading for his restaurant when he was attacked near his residence in South Extension. They stabbed 70 times on his face and then shot him. The victim was rushed to the AIIMS, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The court sentenced the three to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each on them.

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