Monday, July 3 2006 17:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Underworld don Babloo Shrivastava and a Mumbai-based businessman were today sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court for hatching a conspiracy to kill a Delhi businessman nearly 14 years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge Rajinder Kumar of a fast track court here, who had heard the argument in the forenoon, awarded the punishment under section 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on Shrivastava and Mumbai-based businessman Nitin Shah, who had some financial dispute with the victim Lalit Soneja.

However, the court acquitted Manjeet Singh of the charges for want of evidence.

Prosecution had claimed that Soneja was murdered on August two, 1992 by one Manjeet Singh and Virendra Pant on the instructions of Shrivastava.

Pant and Manoj Dixit, along with Manjeet Singh, were hired by Shrivastava for killing Soneja.

Pant and Dixit died during the course of the trial.