Two youths were on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a railway employee about a year ago in Malda.

Police said Hanuman Roy, 60, was found dead at his quarters in ward number 22 of Englishbazar municipality on October 26 last year. Roy had sent his wife and other family members to his native home at Bairampur, in Gazipur district of Uttar Pradesh, a few days before the incident.

“Mobaraq Sheikh and Zakir Sheikh, both friends who used to run a cell phone shop at Sujapur in Malda district, had strangled Roy to death as Roy apparently used to blackmail one of the youths,” said a police officer.

The additional district and sessions court in Malda sentenced the two youths to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 was imposed on both of them.