Father among 2 get lifer for burning son, four others to death

Rourkela: The Rourkela Additional Sessions Judge today awarded life sentence to two persons after they were convicted in the gruesome murder of five youths including son of one of the convicts.

The convicts have been identified as Akshaya Kumar Swain (75) and his accomplice Phuljam Soren.

The spine-chilling incident took place on December 28, 2010, when angered over some reason, Akshaya poured petrol over his elder son Ajit and his four friends— Gopal Pradhan, Biswaranjan Satpathy, Phillip Ekka, and Buddhadeb Minz—studying engineering, and set them on fire while they were having food inside the house in Jhirpani area on the outskirts of the city.

Besides, two others also had sustained serious burn injuries.

The court after taking statements from 35 witnesses and evidences into account pronounced the judgement.

The two accused were later sent to Rourkela Special Jail.