LUCKNOW : The Lakhimpur Kheri Sessions Court convicted all the eight accused in the Shanmugham Manjunath murder case on Friday. District Judge of Lakhimpur Kheri S.M.A. Abdi will award the punishment on March 26.

The Court found Pawan Kumar, alias Monu Mittal, Rakesh Anand, Vivek Sharma, Devesh Agnihotri, Sanjay Avasthi, Shivkesh Giri, Harish Mishra and Rajesh Verma guilty under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

Monu Mittal is the son of Sulakshan Mittal, owner of Mittal Automobile Petrol Pump in Gola Gokarnath in Lakhimpur-Kheri district. It was here that Mr. Manjunath was murdered on November 19, 2005, after he threatened to seal the pump for selling adulterated fuel.

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) officer had sealed the pump earlier in 2005 for the same crime. About four months later it was allowed to resume after its owner promised to follow the norms.

In all 23 witnesses were examined during the trial, which began on June 5, 2006. Three turned hostile. The accused pleaded not guilty, but their pleas were turned down first by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate and later by the Sessions Court. The charge sheet was filed on February 15, 2006 and the case was transferred from the CJM Court to the Sessions Court on March 9 that year. The charges were framed on May 19 and the prosecution witnesses were examined from June 5. The examination closed on February 2, 2007 and the arguments in the case concluded on March 2. The judgment was reserved on March 9.

He was a graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and later passed out from the Indian Institute of Managament, Lucknow, (2003 batch).

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