Photo Courtesy: northeasttoday
Agartala: The Tripura High Court overturned the life sentences of Sumit Chowdhury and Sumit Banik this Tuesday. Both men were previously convicted for their alleged involvement in the 2019 murder of Bodhisatwa Das, who served as the branch manager for UCO Bank in Dharmanagar. Das died after being stabbed on August 3, 2019, following a dispute with a group of people who were drinking by the roadside.
A District and Sessions Court had originally found four individuals guilty in 2023, handing down rigorous life imprisonment terms to Chowdhury, Banik, Sukanta Biswas, and Omar Sharif. Following the ruling, Chowdhury and Banik appealed their convictions to the High Court.
A division bench led by Justice T. Amarnath Goud set aside the convictions after concluding that the prosecution failed to prove the charge of common intention. Defense attorney Subrata Sarkar stated that the ruling corrected the lower court's findings through judicial review. While these two men have been acquitted, the legal status of the other original defendants remains unchanged. The High Court previously dismissed a review petition from Omar Sharif, and Sukanta Biswas did not file an appeal against his conviction.
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