8 get life for killing man who tried to quell land dispute

Agra: Eight men were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mathura court on Wednesday for the murder of a 30-year-old farmer who was shot dead in 2011 while attempting to pacify a violent dispute between two groups of villagers over a patch of land.Additional district govt counsel (ADGC) Avnish Upadhayay said the incident took place on Jan 14, 2011, when Mahendra Singh was killed during clashes over the grabbing of village community land in Khaira village in Chhata area. According to the prosecution, two groups were firing at each other using illegal weapons and licensed guns when Singh intervened and was shot. He later died during treatment at a hospital.Following a complaint filed by the victim's father, Omprakash Singh, police registered a case against 11 people under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder), along with provisions of the Arms Act. All the accused were sent to jail and a chargesheet was filed in court within weeks. During the course of the trial, three accused -- Gattan alias Devdutt, Kanhaiya and Shyam (only first names mentioned in the FIR) -- died."After hearing arguments from both sides and examining the witnesses and evidence on record, the court of additional sessions judge Pallavi Agarwal convicted the remaining eight accused -- Gopal, Ramakant, Shrikant, Nandan, Ramkishan, Hardyal, Natwar and Hatiram (identified only by their first names in the FIR). The convicts, aged between 40 and 60 years, were also fined a total of Rs 5.7 lakh," the ADGC said.