A special MP-MLA court in Prayagraj on Wednesday sentenced jailed mafia-don and former four-time MLA Vijay Mishra and three others to life imprisonment in a 46-year-old murder case linked to a daylight shooting inside the district court campus. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each on all four convicts.
The court had convicted Mishra along with Jeet Narayan, Santram and Balram, on Tuesday for allegedly gunning down 35-year-old Prakash Narayan Pandey in the district court premises on February 11, 1980. The quantum of sentence was pronounced on Wednesday. Mishra is a former MLA from the Gyanpur assembly constituency in Bhadohi district.
According to case details, Pandey, a university student, had arrived at the Prayagraj district court to seek bail in a case registered against him. He allegedly had an old rivalry with Santram and Balram.
The victim’s elder brother, Shyam Narayan, lodged an FIR at Colonelganj police station after the incident. The trial, however, remained pending for years after the original records and case diary allegedly went missing. The case file was later reconstructed, allowing the trial to resume and conclude.
Mishra is currently lodged in Agra jail and faces 83 criminal cases, including murder, loot, kidnapping, rape, fraud, extortion and property grabbing, according to officials.
