<div align="justify">A local court in Hazaribagh on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh and two others in the murder case of a Bihar legislator Ashok Singh.<br /><br />The additional district and sessions judge Surendra Sharma, who last week held Prabhunath guilty and sent him to Jayaprakash Narayan Central Jail in Hazaribagh, announced the verdict in the jam-packed court room through video conferencing as the trio were incarcerated behind bars. The three guilty have also been slapped with a fine of Rs 40,000 each.<br /><br />The 22-year-old murder case of the Bihar legislator dates back to July 3, 1995, when Ashok Singh was sitting on the campus of his official residence in Patna. At around 7 pm, three unidentified assailants barged into his house and hurled bombs at him leading to his instant death. Ashok was barely 28 years old when he was killed. He had defeated Prabhunath Singh in 1995 Assembly elections to make his debut as MLA from Masarakh constituency in Saran district.<br /><br />Prabhunath, his brother Dinanath Singh and mukhiya Ritesh Singh were named accused in the case. Though the trial started in Patna, it was later shifted to Hazaribagh (then in undivided Bihar) in 1997 on the directive of the Patna High Court.<br /><br />Justice Sharma held the trio guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3/5 of the Explosive Substance Act, besides Section 27 of the Arms Act.<br /><br />“I now feel relieved. We have been waiting for justice for the last 22 years. It was not an easy task to pursue the case for such a long period, that too against those whose clout in the corridors of power was well-known,” said Ashok’s widow Chandni Singh, reacting to the court verdict.</div>
<div align="justify">A local court in Hazaribagh on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh and two others in the murder case of a Bihar legislator Ashok Singh.<br /><br />The additional district and sessions judge Surendra Sharma, who last week held Prabhunath guilty and sent him to Jayaprakash Narayan Central Jail in Hazaribagh, announced the verdict in the jam-packed court room through video conferencing as the trio were incarcerated behind bars. The three guilty have also been slapped with a fine of Rs 40,000 each.<br /><br />The 22-year-old murder case of the Bihar legislator dates back to July 3, 1995, when Ashok Singh was sitting on the campus of his official residence in Patna. At around 7 pm, three unidentified assailants barged into his house and hurled bombs at him leading to his instant death. Ashok was barely 28 years old when he was killed. He had defeated Prabhunath Singh in 1995 Assembly elections to make his debut as MLA from Masarakh constituency in Saran district.<br /><br />Prabhunath, his brother Dinanath Singh and mukhiya Ritesh Singh were named accused in the case. Though the trial started in Patna, it was later shifted to Hazaribagh (then in undivided Bihar) in 1997 on the directive of the Patna High Court.<br /><br />Justice Sharma held the trio guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3/5 of the Explosive Substance Act, besides Section 27 of the Arms Act.<br /><br />“I now feel relieved. We have been waiting for justice for the last 22 years. It was not an easy task to pursue the case for such a long period, that too against those whose clout in the corridors of power was well-known,” said Ashok’s widow Chandni Singh, reacting to the court verdict.</div>
