Kolkata, Nov 18 (PTI) A court in Darjeeling on Monday awarded life imprisonment to five people from Maharashtra for murdering a jeweller during a dacoity at his residence in the hill station early last year.

The body of jeweller Pradeep Ojha (52), who was a former school teacher, was found in his Guddhi Road residence in Darjeeling on January 12, 2023, by his son and a neighbour.

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A case was lodged at the Sadar Police Station in Darjeeling. The investigators arrested the five accused from Maharashtra.

They were awarded life imprisonment by sessions judge Jimut Bahan Biswas in Darjeeling after examining 24 witnesses.

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"The convicts, Nitin Popat Kale, Ashutosh Irkar alias Atul, Sachin Chandrakant Deshmukh, Gautam Prakash Mali and Santosh Prakash Shinde are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under section 396 of the Indian Penal Code (Dacoity with murder)," the judge said in the order.

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