The Division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Justice I A Ansari and S C Das yesterday rejected the appeal of Ashok Debbarma alias Achai, the kingpin of the mass killing, and upheld the verdict of death sentence awarded by Additional and Sessions Judge of West Tripura district, Subhash Bhattacharya on November 10, 2005.
A group of about 35 insurgents of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) raided the Jarulbachai village in West Tripura district at about 11 PM on February 11, 1997, and set afire many huts of the village.
When the villagers came out of their blazing huts, the ultras opened indiscriminate firing from automatic weapons killing 15 people and injuring four others.
Later the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed a charge sheet against 16 insurgents. However, 11 insurgents were still absconding.
Additional and Session Judge of West Tripura district released three of the rest five insurgents unconditionally as no evidence was found against them.
Meanwhile, the two accused