DHOLPUR: A local court here on Wednesday sentenced a man to death in connection with the killing of four Dalit labourers in 2008.
Special Judge of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) cases, Narendra Meena, also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Kirti Ram Gurjar, Special Public Prosecutor Syed Mahir Hasan Rizvi said.
Three more accused in the case registered at Bari Police Station here are currently in judicial custody and their trial is underway, Rizvi said.
On July 9, 2008, complainant Jaipal Singh lodged an FIR, saying he, along with his father Ratan Lal, uncles Natthilal and Ramswaroop, and brothers Bhanwar Lal and Pappu, got hired as labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to build a road.
Due to old enmity, Kirti Ram Gurjar, Suresh, Birma, Chandrabhan alias Atta, Puran, and Bhagwan Singh along with others came there and opened indiscriminate firing at the workers while hurling casteist abuses, Jaipal Singh said in the FIR.
Ratan Lal, Natthilal, Ramswaroop, and Ramveer were killed in the firing while the accused fled, he said, While hearing the case on Wednesday, the judge convicted Gurjar for the murders and sentenced him to death under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, Rizvi said.
Three other accused -- Suresh, Birma, and Bhagwan Singh -- are in judicial custody in Dholpur Jail and their trial is on, Rizvi said.
Rizvi said after the formation of the Dholpur district on April 15, 1982, this is the first case in which a court in the district has given a death sentence.