A local court in Azamgarh has sentenced 12 men to life imprisonment in connection with a 1999 murder linked to Shia-Sunni violence in Mubarakpur, bringing an end to a trial that stretched nearly 27 years.
District and Sessions Judge Jai Prakash Pandey delivered the verdict on Tuesday after completing the hearing. The court had convicted all 12 accused on February 13. Each of the convicts has also been fined ₹66,500.
Case Background
According to the prosecution, complainant Nasir Hussain lodged an FIR at Mubarakpur police station on April 30, 1999, reporting that his uncle, Ali Akbar — a resident of Pura Khwaja — had been missing since April 27 that year. Akbar’s son, Jaigam, had filed an earlier missing complaint on April 28.
On April 30, 1999, Ali Akbar’s beheaded body was recovered from Raja Bhat’s pond. The investigation found that he was allegedly attacked and killed while returning from a Muharram procession. Prosecutors said the assault was carried out by members of the Sunni community amid communal tensions.
Police subsequently filed a chargesheet against several accused from Dulhanpura, Purasofi and Hyderabad localities.
During the course of the lengthy trial, four of the accused — Haji Mohammad Suleman, Najibullah, Hamidullah alias Jheenak and Haji Abdul Khaliq — died.
Trial and Sentencing
Representing the prosecution, District Government Counsel (Criminal) Priyadarshi Piyush Tripathi and Additional District Government Counsel Deepak Kumar Mishra examined nine witnesses during the proceedings.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court sentenced Hussain Ahmad, Mohammad Ayub Faizi, Faheem Akhtar, Asrar Ahmad, Mohammad Yaqub, Ali Zaheer, Irshad, Mohammad Asad, Afzal, Alauddin, Dilshad and Wasim to life imprisonment. Each was also ordered to pay a fine of ₹66,500, Tripathi confirmed.
The verdict concludes one of the oldest pending communal violence cases in the region.
