8 persons sentenced for Sarpanch’s murder in Bandipora
Bandipora: A local court on Saturday sentenced eight persons to imprisonment for their involvement in the killing of a Sarpanch in Hajin area of Bandipora district in the year 2014.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Bandipora, Mohammad Ibrahim Wani sentenced the main accused to 10 year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 30,000 while six others sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three years and one month. A woman was also sentenced to six months in prison.
All the persons were convicted last week after they were found involved in the killing of Sarpanch, Abdul Rashid Wagay of village Kathpora Hajin.
The main accused Ghulam Ahmad Parray, a resident of Kathpora has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 30,000 after being found guilty under Section 304-II RPC. He was further sentenced to three years for offences punishable u/s 341 RPC. The sentences imposed shall, however, run concurrently.
The other accused persons — Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, M Sultan Parray, Showkat Ahmad Parray, Firdous Ahmad Parray, Feroz Ahmad Parray were found guilty under sections 147 and 341 RPC and were sentenced to imprisonment of three years and one month.
The court ordered that the period of imprisonment undergone by the accused persons during the investigation/trial of the case shall be set off against the sentence imposed.
The case dates back to November 2014 when the deceased Abdul Rashid Wagay, a Sarpanch accompanied by his two PSOs had gone to the shop of accused Shakeel Ahmad Khan and demanded a gas cylinder from him.
Court observed that Khan’s refusal led to an altercation between him and Wagay. Later-on, other family members of Shakeel Ahmad Khan joined the fight, during which Wagay was hit in the head. Parray later-on succumbed to his injuries at SKIMS Soura.
The prosecution examined 28 witnesses in this case and after conducting a trial for a period of more than six years, the court has found accused No. 3 – Ghulam Ahmad Parray guilty of killing the deceased Abdul Rashid Wagay while other accused persons have been found involved in the rioting and unlawful restraint.
The U.T. of J&K was represented by public prosecutor Abdul Majeed while the accused persons were represented by Shuaib Ahmad Deewani.
