Ara (Bihar):
A Bihar court today sentenced three persons to death and 20 others to life imprisonment in connection with the killing of 21 Dalits at Bathani Tola in Bhojpur district in 1996.
Additional District and Sessions Judge A K Srivastava announced the quantum of punishment today.
On May 5 the court had found the accused guilty of killing the Dalits at Bathani Tola under Sahar block of Bhojpur district on July 11, 1996, by suspected activists of Ranvir Sena, a private militia of land owners.
The court had earlier acquitted 30 others named in the case for want of sufficient evidence.
Around 70 Ranvir Sena men had raided the village and killed 21 Dalits, mostly women and children.