The then station house officer of Shastri Nagar police station here Shamse Alam was today sentenced to death by a local court for a fake encounter in which three students were shot dead claiming them to be dacoits, 12 years ago

.

Seven others, including a police constable Arun Kumar Singh, were sentenced to life imprisonment till death.

The order was passed by the Fast Track Court-I judge Ravi Shankar Sinha who on June five had held the two, Alam and Arun Kumar Singh, guilty of murder.

Six others, Kamlesh Kumar Gautam, Raju Ranjan, Soni Rajak, Kumod Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Mishra and Anil were pronounced guilty of attempt to murder.

The six were shopkeepers of Sammelan Market under Shastri Nagar police station area who had brutally beaten up the three students Vikash Ranjan, Prashant Singh and Himanshu Shekhar, following a scuffle between them and a telephone booth operator over paying a STD bill on December 28, 2002.

Alam who had arrived at the spot with the constable after being informed shot dead the three students in the head and in a police report had claimed them to be dacoits.

A total of 33 witnesses were examined by the court during the protracted trial.

Alam was denied bail by various courts since his arrest in the case in 2003.

The case was first investigated by the local police, then the CID and subsequently handed over to the CBI, which assisted in the trial.