Justice after 29 years: Dhanbad court awards life imprisonment to man for kidnap, murder of 10-year-old boy

The boy was abducted when he was returning from school. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 50,000 from the boy's family and killed him when the money was not given.

Dhanbad: Twenty nine years after a 10-year-old boy was stabbed to death, a Dhanbad court on Friday sentenced one of the three accused to life imprisonment. Two other accused were released by the court earlier.

The court of District and Sessions Judge Sujit Kumar Singh convicted the accused, Mustaq Ansari alias Munna Mian in the last hearing of the case while the verdict was given on Thursday. Mushtaq Ansari has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The case dated back to March 12, 1994 when the boy, named Shahnawaz was abducted while returning from school. The boy, a resident of Jharia studied in class two at Indian School of Learning. On his way back home, Shahnawaz was abducted by three men namely Munna alias Mustaq, Laddan Wahid alias Nanhe and Aftab. The trio took Shahnawaz in an ambassador car to Damodar river in Chirkunda. They then pushed Shahnawaz out of the car and stabbed him to death, police said.

The boy's father, Sharafat Hussain, lodged an FIR in Jharia police station. In his complaint, Hussain said that the miscreants had demanded a ransom of Rs 50,000 from him and murdered Shahnawaz after he failed to provide the sum. After which, hearing of the case started in the court. Evidence was submitted and eyewitnesses testified in the court. Finally, the court gave its verdict today.

Meanwhile, the two other accused, namely Laddan Wahid alias Nanhe and Aftab have already been released by the court. Shahnawaz's family has challenged the order of the District Court in the High Court. Following which, the High Court has issued notices to both the accused. "Although 29 years have passed but, we are happy that one of the culprits is being punished," Mohammad Intaqab, Shahnawaz's brother said.