The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday converted the death penalty of two Maoists convicted for the 2013 ambush that killed Pakur Superintendent of Police Amarjit Balihar and five other policemen, sentencing them instead to life imprisonment.

Justice Gautam Kumar Choudhary commuted the sentences of Pravir Murmu and Santan Baskey while deciding their appeals against the 2018 judgment of a Dumka sessions court that had awarded them the death penalty.

The case had come before Justice Choudhary after a division bench delivered a split verdict on July 20. Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay had favoured acquittal citing insufficient evidence, while Justice Sanjay Prasad had upheld the death sentence. The matter was then assigned to Justice Choudhary for a final opinion.

After examining the record, Jus

See Full Page