November 12, 2010
44 CPM men get life for mass murder
All 44 CPM men convicted of the Suchpur mass killings in 2000 have been sentenced to life imprisonment. First additional district and sessions judge Biswanath Konar pronounced the sentence on Thursday afternoon in a packed courtroom, ringed by unprecedented security. The convicts did not show any sign of distress or remorse and were seen encouraging each other that they “would be out in a few daysâ€. Outside, relatives of the massacre victims shouted slogans demanding the death penalty for “at least 11 of the convicts†— one for each person killed in the gruesome massacre on July 27, 2000. Trinamool Congress chief Ms. Mamata Banerjee hailed the verdict as historic. “This judgment is for democracy and change and against the politics of terror,†she said. “All the convicts were punished under Sections 302 (murder), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC. Under Section 148, they were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1,000, failing which they will face another year in jail. Under Section 302, they were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined 5,000 or three years imprisonment,†said the convicts’ lawyer.
Courtesy: The Times of India
