VARANASI, June 14 -- A Varanasi court on Friday sentenced 16 men to life imprisonment for the October 2022 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pashupati Nath Singh, a counsel involved in the case said. The decision comes a day after the fast track court of additional district judge Kuldeep Singh convicted the 16 accused under charges of murder, conspiracy and rioting. The court also imposed a fine of Rs.29,500 each on convicts. In case of non payment of the fine, the convict will face three more months of imprisonment, said additional district government counsel Manoj Gupta said. "The fast track court-I of additional district judge Kuldeep Singh sentenced the 16 convicts to life imprisonment in the murder of BJP leader Pashupati Nath Singh after hearing both sides," Kumar said. The 16 convicts were identified as Vikas Bhardwaj, Mantu Saroj, Rahul Saroj, Manish Pandey, Ganesh Saroj, Abhishek Saroj, Dinesh Pal, Anoop Saroj, Suraj Yadav, Ramesh Pal, Anuj alias Babu Saroj, Shyam Babu Rajbhar, Vishal Rajbhar, Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Suresh Saroj and Arya alias Akash Saroj. The case stems from the October 12, 2022, murder of Nath, who was attacked by the convicts after his son Rajkumar pushed back against them consuming liquor near his house in Jaiprakash Nagar area of Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh. According to police, Mantu Saroj and Rahul Saroj were creating a ruckus after consuming alcohol with two other companions at the country liquor shop. After Rajkumar forbade them from doing so, the four clashed with him and left. Later, Mantu and Rahul along with 14 others returned and began attacking Rajkumar with an iron rod. Upon hearing about the ruckus, the victim reached the spot and tried to save his son, when the convicts began attacking him, officials said. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader was later rushed to a local hospital, where doctors declared him dead....