Ranchi: Former minister and Jharkhand Party legislator from Kolebeira Enos Ekka has been found guilty of murder of para teacher Manoj Kumar. The court of additional district and sessions judge in Simdega, Niraj Srivastava, while pronouncing Ekka guilty along with Dhanesh Baraik, another accused in the case on Saturday, fixed July 3 as the date for declaring the quantum of punishment .

Ekka has been found guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed), 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 171F (undue influence at an election) of Indian Penal Code and under the Arms Act. Under these sections the quantum of punishment could extend up to life imprisonment, thereby making it clear that the MLA is going to lose his membership of the legislative assembly.

Assistant public prosecutor Subhash Prasad said Ekka is already in jail and would be produced before the court on Tuesday when the quantum of punishment is declared. He added, “The prosecution produced 28 witnesses while the defence had produced six witnesses in the case, the hearing for which went on nearly four years.”

Manoj Kumar went missing from Jatataand Upgraded School in Simdega on November 26, 2014. His brother Sanjay Kumar lodged an FIR against Ekka and PLFI commander Barud Gope, accusing the duo of kidnapping Manoj. Based on the FIR, police registered a case (58/2014) against Ekka and he was arrested from his Thakurtoli residence on the same night. After police found the body of Manoj the next morning — November 27, 2014 — the case of abduction against Ekka was turned into a case of murder.

Gope conceded to become a government approver and helped the prosecution in securing the case against the former minister. The then police superintendent of Simdega, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, who is now the SP of Godda, led the probe team. Commenting on the judgement, Singh said, “We went into minute details to ensure that the culprits are brought to book. I congratulate the police team for their effort.”

Ekka has been in jail since November 2014, from where he contested and won the assembly elections in 2014. He would be the fourth MLA in Jharkhand assembly who could lose his membership after being convicted in any case. Prior to him two Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLAs — Amit Mahto of Silli and Yogendra Prasad of Gomia — and Lohardaga legislator of AJSU-P, Kamal Kishore Bhagat, have lost their memberships.

