Mangaluru (PTI): A court here has sentenced four persons to life imprisonment in a 2015 murder case.

The additional district and sessions court convicted Vijeth Kumar (22), Kiran Poojary (24), Aneesh (23), and Abhijith (24) on April 8 for the murder of Mohammed Nasir.

Pronouncing the sentence on Tuesday, the first Additional District and Sessions Judge, H S Mallikarjuna Swamy, also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 each on the four convicts.

On August 6, 2015, the accused attacked Mohammed Nasir and Mohammed Mustafa, an auto-rickshaw driver, with swords while Nasir was travelling in Mustafa's vehicle. Nasir was killed in the assault, while Mustafa survived.

According to the prosecution, the motive behind the murder was retaliation for an attack on Vijeth Kumar and Abhijith the previous night by some Muslim youths in Bantwal.

The four accused followed the Nasir's auto-rickshaw from Melkar to Mudipu on motorcycles. Upon confirming the identities of the occupants as Muslims, they carried out the fatal attack, the prosecution said.

While delivering the sentence, the judge directed that the fine amount be paid to the victim's wife, Rahamath, along with compensation from the State Legal Services Authority. Additionally, the complainant, Mustafa, is entitled to compensation from the same authority, the court said.

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Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.