10 given death for Senari massacre

Patna: A Jehanabad court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to 10 people involved in the Senari massacre, in which 34 landlords were mercilessly hacked to death by banned Naxal outfit Maoist Communist Centre (MCC).

The incident occurred On March 18, 1999, when a group the MCC attacked Senari Village and forced victims to line up near a village temple where they were brutally hacked to death.

Sources from Jehanabad said that after the judgement was pronounced, police forces were alerted and was asked to keep a strict vigil in the areas surrounding Senari village, which now lies under Karpi police station in Arwal district. The court has also sentenced three others to life imprisonment, while the judgement regarding the other two will be pronounced later.

The court also directed the state to pay Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia to the kin of each person killed and to deposit the money with the district legal service authority, which would pay the families after identifying them. It also ordered for payment of Rs 1 lakh each to those who were injured in the incident. A lawyer said a chargesheet was filed against 74 people in 2002 but the trial took place only against 56 people as 18 people remained absconding. The police had filed a case on information provided by one Chinta Devi, whose husband Awadh Sharma and son were among those killed.