Barkagaon firing case: Ex-Jharkhand minister Yogendra Sao, wife MLA Nirmala sentenced to 10 years jail

A Ranchi court on Thursday sentenced former agriculture minister of Jharkhand Yogendra Sao and his wife, former MLA Nirmala Devi to 10 years of jail in the 2015 Barkagaon firing case, in which several people had lost their lives.

Both Yogendra Sao and Nirmala Devi were convicted by the court of Additional Justice Vishal Srivastava on March 22, while their son Ankit Raj was acquitted in the case.

Sao and former MLA Nirmala Devi, along with the local villagers had organized the Shroud Satyagraha in protest against the proposal of a mining plant by the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) in the year 2015.

Despite several rounds of talk, the administration could not succeed in preventing the protest, during which agitators even tried to stop machines engaged in mining work. Subsequently, Nirmala Devi was arrested.

Enraged by the arrest of Nirmala Devi, villagers started pelting stones at the officials and in the ensuing chaos, villagers helped Nirmala Devi abscond from the police custody.Police resorted to lathi-charge and firing at the crowd and in the clash between protestors and the administration, several people died.

Out of the several cases that were registered, Sao has been acquitted in 11 cases but convicted in one.

( With inputs from ANI )