Panchkula, Sept. 17 -- Two youths who had brutally murdered a railway employee in June 2021 will be spending life in jail, a sessions court in Panchkula has ruled. The duo, Parkash Singh Bisht, 30, a dhaba owner from Champawat, Uttarakhand, and Rohit, alias Bhumra, 25, of Jind, Haryana, was convicted under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The court also slapped a fine of Rs.25,000 each on the convicts, with 50% of the fine to be paid to the victim's father. The victim, Sandeep, a native of Sikar, Rajasthan, was working with Indian Railways and was transferred from Ambala Cantt to Chandigarh in June 2021. He was living in a rented accommodation in Daria with his father, Dayal Chand. On June 15, 2021, Sandeep went out for a walk after dinner, but never returned. The next morning, his father found his naked body lying outside a liquor vend with severe head and facial injuries. During trial, police produced CCTV footage showing the deceased in the company of both accused on the night of June 15. Another footage captured the two accused roaming in an intoxicated state and chasing the victim, with Rohit wielding a wooden stick. Following their arrest, the accused led police to the recovery of the murder weapons - a gandasi and a wooden stick - as well as their blood-stained clothes. Forensic analysis confirmed the presence of human blood on these articles. The court of sessions judge Ved Parkash Sirohi observed that the accused failed to explain why they were seen chasing the deceased with weapons or how he came to be murdered shortly thereafter. "The conduct of the accused, corroborated by medical and forensic evidence, clearly points to their guilt," it noted. The court observed that the entire case rested on circumstantial evidence and the "last seen" theory. Holding that both men stripped and murdered the victim in furtherance of common intention, the court refused leniency and awarded rigorous life imprisonment. The case was investigated by GRP Chandigarh, which filed a chargesheet in July 2021. The trial featured 17 prosecution witnesses, including forensic experts and doctors....