Kendrapara (Odisha), Jun 24 A court in Odisha's Kendrapara district sentenced a 35-year-old man to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering his neighbour over a land dispute in 2019, an advocate said on Wednesday.
District and Sessions Judge, Kendrapara, convicted Sumant Sekhar Nayak of Badapala village in Marsaghai police station area for the murder of 54-year-old Kunja Bihari Nayak on June 5, 2019, public prosecutor Saubhagyabati Alayamani Pattnaik said.
The court, in its judgment delivered on Tuesday, also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict. In default of payment, he will have to undergo an additional one year of imprisonment, she said.
According to the prosecution, the murder stemmed from a longstanding land dispute between the two neighbours.
The court, however, acquitted co-accused Suryamani Nayak, father of the convict, after finding insufficient evidence to establish his involvement in the crime.
Pattnaik said the conviction was secured after the court examined the testimonies of 12 witnesses, besides material exhibits and documentary evidence produced during the trial.
