Patna, May, 13 : Nearly 14 years after 21 dalits, mostly women, girls and two infants, were massacred by a private militia of landlords in Bhojpur district, a local court on Wednesday awarded capital punishment to three convicts and life imprisonment to 20 others.
Additional district and sessions judge A K Shrivastava had on May 5 convicted 23 activists of Ranvir Sena while acquitting 30 others for want of evidence. On Friday, he handed down capital punishment to Ajay Singh, Manoj Singh and Nagendra Singh.
Around 70 Sena activists had raided Bathani Tola village in Bhojpur district in the afternoon on July 11, 1996 when most of the male members were in the fields. The marauding militia men hacked many victims to death while gunning down others.
Ranvir Sena, now a defunct outfit, was a private army of goons raised by upper caste landlords to take on CPI-ML (Liberation) Naxalites who were grabbing farmlands and killing big landlords in central parts of then undivided Bihar in late 1980s and 1990s. Ranvir Sena usually targeted dalits because they were regarded as sympathizers of CPI-ML, which has now become a political party.
Special public prosecutor Ram Babu said police had chargesheeted 63 people of whom four died during the trial while five others were acquitted by Patna High Court. Two accused, including prime suspect Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh alias Mukhiyaji, are yet to face trial as they had been absconding for long. Mukhiyaji was later arrested. Though granted bail by Patna High Court in Bathani Tola massacre case, he would be soon put on trial, Ram Babu said.
The trial began on January 24, 1998 and charges were framed against 63 accused on March 24, 2000. The prosecution produced 13 witnesses, including three doctors and an investigating officer, while the defence brought three witnesses. Arguments in the case started on April 1, 2010, and concluded on April 20, 2010.
This is second massacre case in Bihar in which capital punishment has been awarded to Ranvir Sena activists during the last one month. On April 7, a Patna court sent 16 convicts to the gallows and sentenced 10 others to life imprisonment for killing 58 dalits at Laxmanpur-Bathe in Arwal district on December 1, 1997. Nineteen accused were acquitted.
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