The Nagaon Sessions Court on Friday sentenced 20 convicts to life imprisonment in the widely discussed Abhi-Neel mob lynching case. The accused had earlier been found guilty by the court.
Out of 45 accused in the case, 20 were convicted, while 25 others were acquitted due to lack of evidence on April 20.
Special Public Prosecutor Ziaul Kamar expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, stating that the court did not consider the case as “rarest of the rare” and did not award capital punishment. He said the prosecution would challenge the judgment in a higher court.
The case relates to the lynching of Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das at Dokmoka in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district on June 8, 2018, after they were suspected to be child abductors.
The incident had triggered widespread outrage across the country and beyond. Assam Police had arrested 48 accused in connection with the case, including three juveniles.
The chargesheet was filed in 2024, and the trial, initially conducted in Diphu, was later transferred to the Nagaon Sessions Court following a directive from the Gauhati High Court.
The victims’ families were represented by senior advocate Bijon Mahajan, while the accused were defended by Manas Sarania.