Behrampore, May 20: Ten CPM supporters were today sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Congress leader in Murshidabad’s Domkal in 1996.

The Behrampore district court also fined the convicts Rs 10,000 each. Their prison term will be extended by another year if they fail to pay the amount.

The CPM’s Murshidabad district secretary, Nripen Chowdhury, said: “Those convicted are all party supporters. We will abide by the court’s order. However, some of them may appeal to the higher court.”

According to police records, a dozen CPM supporters, in the presence of local party leader Manjur Mollah, stopped Congress leader Kazem Mollah at Baniakhali village of Domkol, about 230 km from Calcutta, on July 27, 1996, while he was cycling down with son Safikul Mollah on pillion.

Safikul, then a Class VII student of Najirpur High School, saw the CPM men attack his father with sharp weapons and then hurl bombs at him. The horrified boy returned home to tell elder brother Basir about the attack.

Basir lodged a police complaint following which a murder case was started. All 10 named in the FIR were arrested but were released on bail.

Safikul, now a postgraduate student of Rabindra Bharati University, identified each of the accused in front of the judge when the case came up for hearing a fortnight ago.

He was present in court today with his elder brother when the verdict was delivered. “It’s a great relief that all the accused involved in the murder of my father have been brought to book. I had seen how they murdered him,” Safikul said.