BJP MLA Ashok Chandel gets life imprisonment

Lucknow, April 19 (IANS) Ashok Chandel, the BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district, was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty in a 22-year-old murder case. He was sentenced by the Allahabad High Court for his involvement in the murder of five people on January 26, 1997. A bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice D.K. Singh also sentenced 10 others to life imprisonment. Rajiv Shukla, the victim's family member, told IANS: "Three people from my family -- elder brothers Rajesh Shukla and Rakesh Shukla and nephew Ganesh -- were killed along with our security guards Ved Prakash Nayak and Shrikant Pandey." He said he approached the High Court after a lower court acquitted the accused.
--IANS hindi-mag/ksk/mr