Former minister, wife convicted in 2016 Chirudih violence case

Ranchi: The court of additional judicial commissioner Vishal Kumar Srivastav on Tuesday convicted former minister Yogendra Sao and his wife and former MLA Nirmala Devi in connection with the mob violence under Barkagaon police station area in Hazaribag in 2016. Sao’s son Ankit Raj was, however, acquitted in the case for want of evidence. The incumbent MLA of Barkagaon, Amba Prasad, is the daughter of the Sao couple.Additional public prosecutor Parmanand Yadav said, “The court found the accused guilty under section 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. We produced 20 witnesses to establish our argument while the defence came up with seven.” Yadav said that the argument on point of sentencing of the convicts is fixed on Thursday.Nirmala and her son were present in the court physically, while Yogendra, who is in jail, attended the case through video-conferencing. The judge had reserved his order on March 8 after completion of arguments of prosecution and the defense.The case is related to a satyagraha staged by Yogendra, Nirmala and their supporters in Chirudih against the mining by the National Thermal Power Corporation in September 2016. On October 1, the administration arrested Nirmala during the agitation but a mob attacked the police team to release them. About a dozen government employees sustained injuries in the mob violence.