Balasore: A local court here has sentenced a man to rigorous life imprisonment for a double murder committed in Odisha`s Balasore district in 2005.
Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track-I) R N Mishra while awarding life term to convict Prashant Kumar Nanda Praharaj (31) yesterday also imposed Rs 5,000 as penalty.
The convict, a resident of Ghatgharsahi in Nilagiri area of Balasore district, would?serve an additional one year RI if he fails to pay the penalty, the judge ordered.
According to the prosecution, the convict who was a tenant of Debendra Roul in Gopalgaon area of Balasore town had burnt to death landlord`s?wife Umarani (47)?and daughter Parbati (23) on December 17, 2005.
Debendra Roul, a peon in Sales tax department and then engaged at Ambliatha gate at Jaleswar, was not present in the house when the incident took place.
The convict after hitting the duo with a heavy object?had set them on fire by pouring ghee on them.
Noticing smoke emanating from the house, neighbours?raised an alarm. They found the door of the house?as well as the entrance gate?locked from outside.
After the door was broken, the charred bodies were seized by police. Police subsequently seized two empty tins of ghee from the house.
The samples, ghee used for burning the victims and other objects seized from the site and house of the accused were sent for forensic tests.
Though there was no eyewitness, the court after cross examining 18 witnesses and going through circumstantial evidence delivered the verdict.
PTI
