A Kurukshetra court has sentenced nine people, including a woman, to life imprisonment for the murder of three shepherds during a livestock robbery in 2018. The Additional District and Sessions Judge also imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on each convict.
According to District Attorney Jaimal, the victims — Rajaram, Arjun and Sandeep — were rearing sheep and goats at a dera near Pindarsi railway station. On May 22, 2018, Isham Singh, brother of two of the victims, reached the railway tracks after being informed that sheep had been run over by a train. He found several dead and injured animals, while Rajaram and Arjun were found dead in pits near fields. Sandeep, who was critically injured, later died.
The victims’ hands and feet had been tied, and their mouths gagged with tape. The investigation revealed that around 60 sheep had been killed and 17 injured on the railway tracks.
The police investigation found that the accused had allegedly attacked the shepherds while they were sleeping, killed them and fled with the livestock. Several animals were run over by a train as the accused tried to move them across the tracks. They subsequently abandoned the animals and fled.
Eleven people were arrested in the case. Two women, Muthra and Barkha, were acquitted, while the remaining nine — Harkesh, Phokriya, Yadram, Ramlal, Banni, Mukesh, Kamlesh, Ramesh Kumar and Mira — were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under Sections 396 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
