Eight policemen get life imprisonment in Uttar Pradesh

"Additional Sessions Judge A.K. Dwivedi sentenced the eight constables to life imprisonment Tuesday after they surrendered before the court," prosecution lawyer Vikas Shakya told reporters Wednesday in Sonbhadra, about 250 km from here.

"Now of the total 16 policemen who were booked for killing the two youths in September 2003, 13 have been sentenced to life imprisonment. While two policemen never turned up for trial and are still absconding, another did not surrender before the court on Tuesday. All these three are sub-inspectors," Shakya added.

The 16 policemen include four sub-inspectors and 12 constables. The policemen killed two youths - Prabhat Kumar Srivastava and Rama Shankar Sahu - who were residents of Jharkhand, after falsely branding them criminals.

"Srivastava and Sahu were travelling on a train to meet some of their relatives. Both had alighted at Sonbhadra railway station, where policemen from the Pipri police station picked them up, branded them criminals and later killed them," said Shakya. A magisterial inquiry into the shooting found discrepancies and the case was transferred to the Crime Branch's Criminal Investigation Department. A case was registered against the 16 policemen in 2006.