Two Decades After Sarpanch’s Killing, Bhaderwah Court Sentences Terror Accused to Life Imprisonment

SRINAGAR: Over two decades after the brutal killing of a village Sarpanch in Gandoh, the Court of the Principal and Sessions Judge Bhaderwah today convicted a terror accused and sentenced him to life imprisonment, reports reaching from Doda said.

The convict, Irfan Ali, son of Shafqat Ali and resident of Kilhotran in Tehsil Gandoh, was found guilty under Sections 302 and 34 of the Ranbir Penal Code and Section 7/27 of the Arms Act.

The case traces back to July 4, 2002, when an FIR (No. 57/2002) was registered at Police Station Gandoh following the cold-blooded murder of Sarpanch Sher Mohammad of Changa Gandoh. Investigations revealed that the accused, along with his associates, affiliated with a terrorist outfit, had shot the Sarpanch dead before fleeing the spot.

After years of investigation led by the then Station House Officer of Gandoh, the police filed a challan in the Court of the Principal Sessions Judge, Bhaderwah, on May 28, 2019. Irfan Ali had been in judicial custody since that year.

Following a prolonged trial that lasted more than six years, the Sessions Court, Bhaderwah, pronounced its judgment today, holding the accused guilty of murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The prosecution in the case was effectively conducted by KK Bandral, Chief Prosecuting Officer, Bhaderwah.

Officials said the conviction brings a measure of closure to a long-pending case that had remained a grim reminder of the wave of violence that had gripped parts of the Chenab Valley during the early 2000s.