In a significant ruling, a local court in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday handed down life sentences to Munna Vishwakarma, an alleged Naxalite with a multi-state bounty, and his associate Ajit Kol, for their involvement in a murder dating back to 2009. The court also imposed a financial penalty of Rs 20,000 on each of the convicts.
Presiding over the case, Additional Sessions Judge Jitendra Kumar Dwivedi found both defendants guilty of the murder of Rambriksh, whose body was discovered in a forest area following a violent clash between Naxalite factions over the division of extortion proceeds.
According to Additional District Government Advocate Vinod Kumar Pathak, the deceased was a victim of internal strife within the Naxalite community, leading to his brutal killing. The subsequent police investigation led to the arrests of Vishwakarma and Kol in 2012 after a police encounter highlighted their involvement.
Munna Vishwakarma, notorious for his Naxalite activities, carried bounties totaling Rs 10 lakh across several states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, with Uttar Pradesh’s alone amounting to Rs 3 lakh. Ajit Kol was similarly marked with a bounty of Rs 50,000 due to his criminal activities.
