27 years on, 12 awarded life term for Shia leader’s murder

Varanasi: The Azamgarh district judge on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to 12 convicts in the 1999 killing over a land dispute between the Shia and Sunni sects in Pura Sofi village of Mubarakpur. The court had convicted them on Feb 13. Azamgarh's district govt counsel (criminal) Priyadarshi Piyush Tripathi said that the court of district and sessions judge Jay Prakash Pandey on Tuesday sentenced Husain Ahmad, Mohammad Ayub Faizi, Faheem Akhtar, Asrar Ahmad, Mohammad Yakub, Ali Zaheer, Irshad, Mohammad Asad, Afzal, Alauddin, Dilshad and Waseem to life imprisonment, and also slapped a fine of Rs 66,500 on each of them.
On April 27, 1999, Shia leader Ali Akbar led a Muharram procession in Pura Sofi village, amidst a longstanding land dispute between Shia and Sunni sects over a 10-foot plot. Tensions flared as the rival group blocked the procession, sparking a clash between the two sections. As tensions escalated, a massive stone-pelting incident erupted, prompting police to intervene and use force to quell the situation. Later that evening, when Ali Akbar had gone to bury Tazia, he went missing. His son filed a missing complaint with police on April 28, 1999. After two days, Ali's beheaded body was found in Raja Bhat's pond, after which his nephew, Nasir Hussain, filed a murder case with the Mubarakpur police station.Two chargesheets had been filed by police against the accused persons in July and November 1999. Later, a series of Shia-Sunni riots, in which several lives were lost and large number of cases were also filed, kept cops diverted from focusing on Ali's murder case. Later, the case was not pursued efficiently resulting in issuance of dates repeatedly till the prosecution cell of Azamgarh police ensured pursuance of the case on priority since Nov 2025. During the course of hearing, four accused, including Haji Mohammad Suleman, Najibullah, Hamidullah alias Jheenak and Haji Abdul Khaliq, died.