Berhampur: A court in Ganjam district Monday sentenced 13 people, including CPI leader and former MLA N Narayan Reddy, to life imprisonment for killing a policeman 25 years ago during an anti-land acquisition movement.
Binobha Meher, an inspector of the reserve police, died June 18, 1998 when the accused hurled bombs at a police team in Sindhigaon during the protest against the land acquisition for the construction of a steel plant in the area.
As many as 22 people, including the former legislator, were implicated in the case, of them, 13 appeared before the court and three persons could not come due to their ill health, while six died earlier, public prosecutor Niranjan Padhy said. Raj Kumar Das, the judge of ADJ-3 court, pronounced the verdict of the 25-year-old case after recording the statement of 65 witnesses, added Padhy.
The 68-year-old former MLA who led the anti-land acquisition movement, in his reaction, said, “We are very much disappointed over the judgment. We will approach the higher court to get justice.”
Reddy was elected to the state Assembly in 2004 from the Chhatrapur segment when he was in jail. There were several cases linked to the anti-displacement movement against him, including the murder of the policeman.
The Left leader was arrested under the National Security Act when he contested the election. Most of the other accused claimed that they were ‘erroneously implicated’ in the case as they were not on the spot when the incident occurred.
A clash between the police and agitators broke out during a meeting in Sindhigaon over the land acquisition for the steel plant. Security guards of the then collector and the superintendent of police of Ganjam sustained injuries when agitators pelted their vehicles with stones. The police had fired to disperse the mob in the village.
PNN