PATNA, Feb. 15 -- The additional district and sessions court of Gopalganj sentenced CPI-ML leader Jitendra Paswan and his associate Shriram Bhagat to life imprisonment for the murder of a student named Atal Pandey on December 2, 2021, officials said on Saturday. They were also imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 each. Jitendra Paswan was arrested on October 15, 2025 moments after he filed his nomination papers for the Bhore constituency seat in Gopalganj. An arrest warrant was pending against him in connection with the murderous attack on Pandey. The case was registered with Vijaipur police station. Paswan is currently the state president of the Revolutionary Youth Association. The court of ADJ-12 Dhiraj Kumar Mishra rejected the prosecution's plea for the death penalty for the convict, observing that the case did not fall under the rarest of rare category. Around ten witnesses had supported the prosecution case while seventeen witnesses deposed their testimonies from the defence side. Paswan's counsel Ajata Shatru said that the court had ignored several pieces of evidence. "We will appeal against this verdict before the Patna high court," he added. On December 2, 2021, four persons, including Sanjay Pandey, Sintu Pandey, Jagdamba Pandey and a student, Atal Pandey, who was studying in Lucknow, were stabbed over a land dispute at Koreya village of Vijaypur police station. Atal Pandey later succumbed to injuries....