Manjunath killers gets death rap, life sentence

Petrol pump owner Pawan Kumar Mittal, the main accused in the sensational murder of Indian Oil sales manager Manjunath, was sentenced to death by a district court today while the other seven accused were given life imprisonment.

Delivering the verdict in a packed court room, District Judge S M A Abidi said the murder of 27-year-old Manjunath on November 19, 2005 was planned because weapons of different persons residing in different localities were used. The death sentence would be subject to confirmation by the High Court.

The court had convicted all the eight accused on Friday for killing the IIM-Lucknow graduate who had exposed a racket in the sale of adulterated fuel.

Manjunath was shot dead at a petrol pump in Gola area in Lakhimpur Kheri district after he threatened to cancel Mittal's licence for selling spurious fuel.

The court also punished the eight accused under different sections of the IPC to imprisonment ranging from six months to seven years and imposed fine on them. All the sentences would run concurrently.

The judge opined that the conduct of different accused after the incident also confirmed that they had participated in the crime.