The Bermo Sub-Divisional Court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to seven people including Baijnath Mahto, younger brother of state education minister Jagarnath Mahto, for murdering a teacher Santosh Pandey in 2014.

Pandey was thrashed by the accused before a Kangaroo Court for having eloped with one of his female student.

“Additional district and session judge-1 Rajeev Ranjan awarded life imprisonment to the accused (Baijnath Mahto, Ganesh Bharti, Nemi Puri, Kailash Puri, Jitendra Puri, Neeraj Puri and Kewal Mahato) under sector 302/120B (Murder/Criminal conspiracy). The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the culprits,” said Sanjay Singh, additional public prosecutor of Bermo court.

Originally, in the FIR lodged by Pandey’s elder brother Anant Lal Pandey with Nawadih police station on March 20, 2014, 11 individuals including Jagarnath Mahto had been accused of the crime. However, later, Jagarnath Mahto’s name was removed by the police since ‘no evidence’ was found against him. For the same reason, names of three others accused in the case ‑ Satyendra Giri, Mehlal Puri and Suraj Puri were also dropped.

The minister had undergone a lung transfer following a coronavirus infection that kept him bedridden for nearly two months. At present, he is fit and leading a normal life again.

Pandey, a resident of Alargo village, was only 25-year-old when fell in love with the girl. When they decided to spend the entire life together, they eloped to Chennai only to be brought back by the girl’s relatives.

Following which he was trashed by the accused before the Kangaroo Court. He was admitted to Chandrapura Hospital where he succumbed to injuries. Angry mobs protested after his death and even gheraoed Jagarnath Mahto’s residence for several hours. They even pelted stones at the girl’s residence.

However, before his death, Pandey in his statement said Baidyanath and six others, barring Jagarnath Mahto, had thrashed him. The police sent the video recording for a forensic test and which was later produced before the court along with its report.

The court convicted seven people in the case on January 4. Earlier, the deposition of 34 witnesses was also recorded. During the lockdown, the trial was done through video conferencing. Baidyanath was jailed at that time, while the remaining six were awarded imprisonment on Tuesday.