Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Sept 25: In the 2017 Nagadih lynching case, the Jamshedpur Court on Thursday convicted five accused while acquitting 20 others due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Those found guilty are Rajaram Hansda, Gopal Hansda, Rengo Purti, Tara Mandal, and Sunil Sardar.
The verdict was delivered by ADJ-1 Vimalesh Kumar Sahay, who fixed October 8 as the date for the hearing on sentencing.
Out of the total 28 accused, one had died during the trial, while some were absconding or had been released earlier.
The case (No. 91/2017) was registered at Bagbera police station on the basis of a complaint filed by Uttam Verma, a relative of the victims.
Another related case (No. 90/2017), filed by the then Bagbera police station in-charge Amish Hussain, is still pending in court alongwith nearly seven connected cases.
The Nagadih Massacre
On May 18, 2017, a violent mob, acting on rumours of child-lifting, brutally lynched Vikas Verma, his brother Gautam Verma, their grandmother Ramsakhi Devi (residents of Jugsalai Naya Bazar), and Gangesh Gupta of Bagbera.
Absconding Accused
At least 8–10 accused, including Vibhishan Sardar and Jagat Mardi, are still absconding, said advocate Sushil Jaiswal, who represented the victims’ family along with senior lawyers Sudhir Kumar Pappu and Jagat Vijay Singh.
Charges
The five convicted men were held guilty under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 341, 342, 338, and 117/149 (unlawful assembly and rioting).
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on October 8.
