Titlagarh/Cuttack: The Additional District Judge (ADJ) Court Titlagarh today sentenced all four accused in the sensational murder of local BJD leader Abhimanyu Sahu to life imprisonment.

The court pronounced the sentence after convicting them of murder and criminal conspiracy.

The court however, sentenced prime accused Alok Das to five more years in prison for illegal possession of arms in addition to life imprisonment for murder.

The other three who have been sentenced to life imprisonment are Jagdish Bag, Naresh Singh and Santosh Rana.

“The Court after convicting Alok Das and his three accomplices under sections 302 and 120B of the IPC has sentenced them to life imprisonment. In addition to that Alok Das has been awarded additional five years in jail after being convicted under section 25 of the Arms Act,” informed Dharanidhar Nayak, Special Public Prosecutor.

“I had faith in the judiciary. The verdict has given me some relief. Even death penalty will be less for these people who killed my husband leaving my children orphaned,” said Tukuni Sahu, widow of Abhimanyu and sitting MLA of Titlagarh in her reaction to the media after the pronouncement of the verdict.

While Abhimanyu had gone for a morning walk on the outskirts of Titlagarh town on December 15, 2013, he was hit by a vehicle from behind. Later, his body was found dumped with his throat slit. The four accused were arrested after Crime Branch investigated the case from different angles.