14 sentenced to life in prison for Bhagalpur riots

14 sentenced to life in prison for Bhagalpur riots

Press Trust Of India

Bhagalpur, July 07, 2007
First Published: 16:48 IST(7/7/2007)
Last Updated: 17:31 IST(7/7/2007)

A local court on Saturday sentenced 14 people to life imprisonment in the infamous 1989 Bhagalpur communal riots' case on charges of murder of 116 Muslims at Logain village.
TURBULENT HISTORY
Bhagalpur has witnessed communal disturbances between Hindus and Muslims all along and riots occurred in 1924, 1936, 1946 and 1967.
Of all the incidences, Bhagalpur became notorious after the riots in October 1989. According to various accounts, some 1100 to 1891 people were killed, a majority of them Muslims.
Cause: According to some accounts, the stoning of a Ram Shila Poojan procession by some Muslims had triggered the riots.
Impact: As a fall-out of the riots, the silk-weaving industry suffered a decline.
Verdict: In 2007, 14 people were convicted of mass killings of Muslims during the 1989 riots.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Shambhunath Mishra handed down life term to all the 14 convicts, including one in absentia.
The court had deferred the pronouncement of the sentence on June 27 and directed the police to produce convict Jaiprakash Mandal who was absconding.
The 14 accused were on June 18 pronounced guilty of slaughtering 116 Muslims at Logain village on October 27, 1989.
Jaiprakash Mandal's brother Prabhas Mandal was among those sentenced, while their father Kamaleshwari Mandal, also an accused, had died during the trial.
Those convicted in the case included Ramchandra Singh, the then officer in-charge of Jagdishpur police station, chowkidar Thakur Paswan, Kuldip Mandal, Arjun Mandal, Prabhas Mandal, Sukhdev Mandal, Subhash Mandal, Ajablal Mandal, Shivlal Mandal, Naresh Mandal, Jattu Mandal, Ramdev Mandal, Saryu Prasad Singh and Jaiprakash Mandal.
Though there were 24 named accused in the case, six died during the pendency of the trial, while four never turned up.