123 Kolkata: A Barrackpore court on Monday sentenced six convicts to life imprisonment for killing Barrackpore-based promoter Amarnath Tiwari five years ago after he refused to pay extortion money. Tiwari was gunned down in his residence.
The incident occurred on Oct 9, 2019, after a gang of local extortionists led by a notorious criminal in the Barrackpore industrial belt, Shyam Bihari Yadav, threatened the real estate developer Tiwari with dire consequences to pay them Rs 40,000. Tiwari refused to pay them and lodged an FIR against the accused.
"Amarnath Tiwari (48) was riddled with bullets in his own home at Naihati," an investigating officer said.
Following the murder, the detective wing of the Barrackpore commissionerate began an investigation and arrested Shyam Bihari Yadav, Amod Chowdhury, Anil Yadav, Chandan Yadav, Aman Tiwari, and Anil Roy in connection with the murder.
Subsequently, cases were filed against the accused under charges of murder and the Arms Act. "After testimony from 14 witnesses, they were convicted on Dec 11 after the judge found them guilty. On Monday, Judge Ayan Banerjee of the ADJ Third Court, Barrackpore, sentenced all six accused to life imprisonment," Satyabrata Das, special public prosecutor, told TOI.
The family of the deceased expressed satisfaction with the court's verdict. The deceased's son, Ashu Tiwari, said, "Those miscreants used to extort money in the Barrackpore-Naihati neighbourhood. They came to our house and demanded Rs 40,000 from my father. As he refused to pay them, they fired at him at least thrice from point-blank range and immediately fled the spot. Though we are satisfied with the life imprisonment sentence for the accused, we would be happier if they were sentenced to death."
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