Bihar BJP leader sentenced to life term for murder

Patna, Aug 22 (IANS) A Bihar court on Monday sentenced BJP leader Jitendra Swamy to life imprisonment in a case of abduction and murder of a man 16 years ago, a government lawyer said.

Avadesh Kumar Dubey, Additional District and Sessions Judge in Siwan, awarded the life term to Swamy.

Swamy was convicted on August 12 after the court found him guilty of abduction and murder of Bharat Singh, brother of Damodar Singh, who was the Janata Dal-United candidate from Maharajganj assembly constituency in 2000.

Swamy is the son of former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) parliamentarian Umashankar Singh.

According to police officials, Bharat Singh was abducted on February 15, 2000, and his body was recovered two days later. The victim's kin had then lodged an FIR against Swamy, accusing him of murder.

Swamy was acquitted by a lower court in 2012, but Bharat's family challenged the order in the Patna High Court which ordered a retrial.

Meanwhile, Swamy had unsuccessfully contested the 2013 bypoll to the Lok Sabha from the Maharajganj constituency on a Congress ticket following the death of Uma Shankar Singh, who was a sitting MP from the constituency.

Last year Swamy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and unsuccessfully contested the 2015 assembly election from the Daraunda constituency.