Mukhtar Ansari aide gets life term in murder case

Varanasi: Court of special judge (MP-MLA) on Tuesday awarded rigorous life imprisonment to Nandlal Rai, alias Bablu Langda, and Sheshnath Sharma in the Jan 17, 2017 case of Pramod Kumar Nigam's murder.
Nigam was active in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and also leader of the street vendors' union. Rai, who was prime witness in the Krishnanand Rai murder case, had turned hostile and joined gangster late Mukhtar Ansari's gang.
Providing details of the court order, additional district govt counsel (criminal) Vinay Singh said in his 45-page judgment, the special judge (MP-MLA), Yajuvendra Vikram Singh, sentenced both accused, Nandlal Rai and Sheshnath Sharma, to rigorous life imprisonment and also imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on each under section 302/34 (murder committed by multiple individuals with common intention) of the IPC. The court also sentenced them to three years' imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 10,000 each under section 25 of the Arms Act. All terms will run concurrently. Nigam was murdered in a minor dispute over urinating near Jawahar Nagar market on Jan 17, 2017. Following a heated exchange, Rai left the place, issuing threats of dire consequences to Nigam. After a few hours, he returned with Sharma and shot Nigam.
Later, a case was registered with Sigra police. The complainant in Nigam's murder case mentioned that Rai was main witness in the Krishnanand Rai murder case that took place in 2004, but under Mukhtar's influence, he turned hostile. tnn