The Calcutta High Court today acquitted two death row inmates and commuted the capital sentence of six others to jail terms in connection with the murder of a youth in North 24 Parganas district in 2014.
Rejecting the prosecution's plea to uphold the capital sentence, awarded by a trial court in 2016, a division bench comprising Justice Nadira Patherya and Justice D P Dey acquitted Suman Sarkar and Amal Barui.
The bench also commuted the death sentence of Shyamal Karmakar to 30 years in prison and that of Ratan Samaddar, Tarak Das, Tapas Biswas, Somnath Sardar and Suman Das to life imprisonment.
The court, however, upheld the lower court's decision to award five-year prison term of two others, who were found guilty of harbouring the eight accused in the case.
A resident of Bamangachi in North 24 Parganas district, Sourav Chowdury (21), was abducted and murdered on July 5, 2014, after he protested against liquor consumption in public places.
All 10 accused were arrested by the district police and tried before the Barasat Sessions Court in April 2016.
The sessions court ordered death penalty for eight of them and five years' imprisonment for the other two.
The 10 convicts had moved appeals before the high court in 2016. Following extensive hearings in the case, the order was passed by the division bench today.
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