14 of a family given life for murder

CHANDIGARH - A court in the Patiala city of Punjab has sentenced to life imprisonment 14 members of a family for killing a man over a land dispute in 2006.

Additional sessions judge P.P. Singh Monday convicted head of the family Kartar Singh, his two sons, four grandsons and seven other relatives for the murder of land owner Sher Singh.

“The agriculture land originally belonged to Sher Singh and he had all the documents with him supporting his claim. However, accused Kartar Singh illegally wanted to grab the land,” prosecution lawyer Sarabjeet Singh told IANS Wednesday.

There was a dispute over the one-and-a-half acre land in village Duggal near Patran town in Patiala, about 100 km from state capital Chandigarh.

A group of some 15 men armed with swords, batons and guns reached the fields of Sher Singh on July 1, 2006, and murdered him when he resisted handing over the field to them. Two accomplices of the deceased were also critically injured, he added.

Sher Singh and his injured friends were kabaddi players who had participated in various national events.

Police had registered a case against 16 accused but two were acquitted during the court trial due to lack of evidence.