AGARTALA: A fast track court in Agartala has sentenced as many as 12 people, including a woman, to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. The accused were found guilty in an arson case. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each on them.
The court convicted them three days ago but awarded the punishment on Tuesday.
The court convicted Narayan Debnath, Ratiranjan Laskar, Gouranga Bhowmik, Gouranga Dey, Bikas Das, Monoranjan Pal, Bijaykrishna Mishra, Prankrishna Sutradhar, Kajal Debnath, Tapas Laskar, Keshab Debroy and
Uttam Dey
for committing arson at a house and harassing the female members of the family besides, looting the valuables.
However, the family members of the convicted persons told the media that they would move the high court against the judgment.
According to public prosecutor
Bhaskar Debbarma
, the convicted persons under the banner of
Bhumi Suraksha Committee
set ablaze the house of one Sudhir Debnath, a resident of
Champamura
village in
Sepahijala
district, on November 22, 2014.
Before setting the house on fire, they looted valuables and assaulted family members. The investigation revealed they had targeted the house to grab land in the name of setting up a hospital, said Debbarma.