PATNA, 4 October 2007 — A Patna court yesterday handed down death sentence to three politicians including two former MPs and a former minister and life imprisonment to four including a sitting legislator and a former MP in a case related to the murder of Gopalganj District Magistrate G. Krishnaiya in 1994.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ramshreshta Rai of the fast-track court handed down death sentence to former member of Parliament Anand Mohan, a Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader, along with former minister Akhlaq Ahmad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Arun Kumar, another former member of Parliament from Jehanabad, associated with the ruling JD-U.

The court also gave life imprisonment to former member of Parliament Lovely Anand, JD-U leader and wife of Anand Mohan, along with Munna Shukla, the sitting JD-U state legislator, Shashi Shekhar Thakur and Harendra Kumar, who unsuccessfully contested the last parliamentary poll on a JD-U ticket.

It Monday found them guilty under Sections 302, 307, 147, and 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). All seven were then taken into custody and sent to Beur jail.

The lawyers representing the accused persons have said they will appeal against the “harsh verdict’ in the higher court. State’s Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah said, “The government will appoint a senior lawyer to defend the sentence in the higher court, in case of appeal by the accused.” He termed the case as “rarest of the rare” deserving the death penalty.

The verdict has come 13 years after the incident, when the present government constituted a special court for the speedy trial in the case.

Krishnaiya, a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was shot at and then stoned by a mob near Khaabra village on National Highway 28 on Dec. 5, 1994, when he was returning to Gopalganj from Hajipur via Muzaffarpur after attending an official meeting.

Krishnaiya was from a very poor family in Andhra Pradesh and his father used to be a laborer.

According to the police report, Krishnaiya’s vehicle was intercepted by a mob led by Anand Mohan. His wife Lovely, Munna Shukla and Akhlaq Ahmad were also part of the mob, which comprised mainly armed henchmen and supporters of Anand Mohan, the police said.

The mob was protesting the killing of Kaushalendra Shukla alias Chhotan Shukla, a criminal-turned-legislator.