AURANGABAD: A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act ( MCOCA ) court on Monday handed five life terms to notorious gangster and contract killer Imran Mehendi and seven of his accomplices for the kidnapping and murder of former NCP corporator Saleem Qureshi here in 2012. The life terms will run concurrently.The court of V V Patil ordered the life terms under two sections of the Indian Penal Code and under three sections of the MCOCA. A fine of Rs 15.11 lakh was slapped on each of the eight convicts.Qureshi, a two-time corporator, was kidnapped by the gang in the early hours of March 5, 2012. His car was found abandoned in the city. His brother, Haleem, lodged a complaint with the Begumpura police.Investigations led to Mehendi's arrest on March 10. On being grilled, he revealed the murder plot and took the police to the spot in the Mitmita area where he and his gang had slit Qureshi's throat and buried him while he was still alive, said special public prosecutor Rajendra Mugdia.On April 5 the same year, the gang members were charged under MCOCA provisions and 61 articles were seized from them. In September 2012, a chargesheet running into 1,100 pages was filed in the case. Mugdia said that during the course of the trial, the prosecution cross-examined 63 witnesses of whom 11 turned hostile.The accused were convicted for life under sections 302 (murder) and 364 (kidnapping for murder) of the IPC and fined Rs 5,000 each. They were handed a one-year sentence under section 201 (disappearance of evidence) and fined Rs 1,000 each.

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