HC acquits Tripura editor

Agartala: The Tripura High court on Thursday acquitted Sushil Chowdhury, Editor of a local vernacular daily who had been awarded life imprisonment till death by a district court on the charge of murdering three employees of his newspaper.
A division bench, comprising chief justice Deepak Gupta and justice Subhasish Talapatra, today ordered 75-year-old Chowdhury’s release from jail.
The court of Additional District and Session Judge of West Tripura district Kripankar Chakraborty had in his verdict on July 14 awarded him life imprisonment till death and also slapped a fine of Rs 70,000 for murdering the three employees on May 19, 2013.
However, Chowdhury had appealed to the High Court pleading not guilty.
Public Prosecutor Abhijit Ghosh said the HC has ruled that the appeal by Chowdhury against his conviction and sentence is allowed.
On May 19, 2013 three employees of ‘Ganadoot Patrika’, manager Ranjit Chowdhury, proof reader Sujit Bhattacharjee and driver Balaram Ghosh were found murdered within the office premise.
On May 30 Niyoti Ghosh, wife of slain driver Balaram Ghosh, was arrested while Sushil Chowdhury himself was nabbed on June 7, 2013.
The inquiry officer (IO) in the case, sub-inspector Manas Paul, had conducted the investigation and filed charge-sheet for a custodial trial and Sushil Chowdhury was sentenced jail term till the last day of his life. (PTI)