INDIA FOUR AWARDED DEATH IN ROHTAS

four people, charged with the kidnapping and subsequent killing of a minor boy, were awarded capital punishment while the other three accused got life terms at a fast track court in Sasaram, Rohtas, India. The presiding officer, Umesh Chandra Mishra, sentenced Arvind Kumar, Chhotan Khan, Nanhaku Chaudhary and Chandan Kumar to death and also fined them Rs 5,000 each. Court sources said Ujjwal Kumar, 13, a native of Hariharganj village under the Nasariganj police station of Rohtas district, was kidnapped by armed criminals on March 21, 2004. The boy's father Jay Parkash paid Rs 1 lakh as ransom to the kidnappers but they murdered the boy instead of releasing him. Police arrested the accused in the same village and their confessions enabled the police to recover the boy’s skeleton.