Awarded death penalty earlier, retrial finds 11 guilty again

Eleven people, sentenced to death last year for killing a woman in 2014, were again found guilty today of the murder by a Nadia district court during their retrial, held on the Calcutta High Court orders.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Madhumita Roy found all the eleven guilty again.
The quantum of punishment would be pronounced tomorrow, the court said after convicting the accused.
Krishnagar AD&SJ Partha Sarathi Mukhopadhyay had awarded capital punishment to all the eleven for shooting dead a woman, Aparna Bag, on November 23, 2014 in their bid to grab a piece of government land.
The case then went to Calcutta High Court which sent it back to the lower court on May 19, 2016 for retrial. After it was completed, the judge found the 11 accused guilty again.

The 11 had been charged under sections 9B of Explosive Act, 27/35 of Arms Act, IPC 307 (attempt to murder) and 302 (murder).

Among those who had been sentenced to death earlier in the case is a former Trinamool Congress leader Lankeswar Ghosh, but the ruling party has said that he was not its member.
According to the prosecution, the woman was killed when Ghosh along with his gang tried to seize "21 bigha and 15 cottah" of land at Ghungragachhi under Krishnaganj block, which belongs to Refugee and Refugee Rehabilitation Department of West Bengal Government.
The land was being tilled by 55 families for long and they claimed to have its possession. Some had even sold portions they claimed were theirs.

On November 23, 2014, Ghosh and his men reached the field on a tractor and tried to take over the land by force but faced resistance from the tillers.
In the clash that ensued, there was firing and three women received bullet injuries. Aparna Bag was hit on her chest and died. The other injured recovered later.