Midnapore (WB): Mafia don Basab Rambabu, who had terrorised Kharagpur since the '80s, his wife, Basab Manju, brother, Srinu and son-in-law, Srinivas Rao were among 19 sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for life by a Midnapore court on August 31 for the murder of Goutam Choubey, son of the late Communist Party of India (CPI) stalwart Narayan Choubey, in 2001.

All the 19 were also fined Rs 10,000 each in lieu three years additional RI.

One of the convicts, Sanjay Thakur, was sentenced to three years additional RI for possessing a revolver without a license. The sentences would run concurrently.

There were another 10 absconders in the case.

The 3rd Additional District and Sessions judge, Midnapore, Imtiaz Ali Shah, who convicted them on August 29 took an hour to read out his 95-page judgement in the packed courtroom.

The convictions were made under IPC 302/34 (murder and conspiracy).

The judge also ordered that since Basab Manju had been convicted, her five-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter could not be kept in the Midnapore jail with her.

The two children were put in the custody of the mother-in-law of Manju, who gave her consent to the judge.

The judge observed that the manner in which Basab Rambabu and others had resorted to terror and murder in a planned manner in Kharagpur and its surrounding areas, a lesser sentence was not possible.

All the convicts were present in court.

PTI