A Hooghly court on Thursday awarded death penalty to seven individuals for the murder and dismemberment of a youth in 2020.

The additional district and sessions judge of Hooghly district court in Chinsurah, Shib Shankar Ghosh, found the seven accused, including the prime perpetrator Bishal Das, guilty in connection with the murder of 23-year-old Bishnu Mal of Hooghly.

In October 2020, Mal was kidnapped by Das and his associates after Mal's marriage was finalised with a woman that Das was in love with.

Mal was kidnapped and murdered, after which his body was dismembered into six pieces.

During the investigation, the police recovered all body parts, which had been scattered in different areas by the perpetrators in an attempt to destroy evidence.

"It was a heinous crime as the perpetrators not only killed him but also dismembered his body. We appealed before the court that the crime was among the rarest of the rare in terms of brutality. That is why the court handed death penalty to the seven accused involved in the crime," said Bivas Chatterjee, the special public prosecutor in the case.

The Chandernagore police commissionerate put in every effort to gather evidence after apprehending the accused. The police initially failed to recover the victim’s head. However, leads after prolonged interrogation helped the police to ultimately recover the head from Canning.

Chandernagore police commissioner Amit P. Javalgi thanked all the officers involved in the probe for their relentless efforts, including protecting the 34 witnesses.