KHONSA, 23 Dec: The sessions court here in Tirap district on Thursday convicted three persons and sentenced them to life imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine for the offence of kidnapping for ransom.

Suraj Chakma (alias Bakksu Chakma alias Subhash Moni Chakma), Prem Chakma (alias Sikko Chakma alias Garbhenga Chakma) and Chitiso Chakma were convicted under Section 364 A and 365 of the Indian Penal Code.

On 20 September, 2017, when storekeeper Ashim Deb and supervisor Indeswar Taye of the Namchic Tea Estate were returning home, the miscreants, brandishing daos and arms, stopped them. After enquiring about their job profiles, they were forcibly taken to a tea garden. After some time, Ashim Deb was released, but Indeswar Taye was kidnapped by the miscreants.

They detained Taye at their temporary camp in the jungle for 12 days and used his phone to demand Rs 50 lakhs from the owner of the tea estate. They also threatened to kill Taye if their demand would not be fulfilled. After negotiations, Rs 12,20,000 was fixed as ransom, and Taye was released by the miscreants only after receiving the payment.

After the ransom had been paid and the victim released, Kharsang Police Station SI L Ganden swung into action and apprehended Chitiso Chakma and, as per his disclosure, recovered three dummy AK-47 rifles and one pistol made of wood.

After committing the crime, two of the miscreants fled to Bangladesh. They were arrested in 2019 when they kidnapped an employee of the OIL and extorted Rs 30 lakhs. Although there were a total of six miscreants involved, the rest are absconding.

Later, SI Krishan Kumar filed the chargesheet against the accused persons. Changlang Chief Judicial Magistrate D Niri committed the case for trial to the sessions court here, and Sessions Judge H Kashyap conducted the trial. (DIPRO)