KANPUR, March 25 -- An MP-MLA court in Auraiya on Tuesday sentenced former MLC Kamlesh Pathak to six years in prison under the Gangsters Act in connection with a 2020 double murder case, with eight co-accused handed five-year terms each. A tenth accused, gunner Avnish Pratap Singh, was acquitted. Pathak, a former Samajwadi Party MLC, was also fined Rs 1 lakh. The eight others, identified as Santosh Pathak, Ramu Pathak, Kuldeep Awasthi, Vikalp Awasthi, Rajesh Shukla, Shivam Awasthi, Ashish Dubey and Ravindra alias Lala Chaube, were each fined Rs 50,000. The case stems from a double murder on March 15, 2020, at the Panchmukhi temple premises in the Narayanpur locality of Auraiya town. Eleven persons, including Pathak, were named as accused. The then station house officer registered a FIR against all of them on July 11, 2020 under the Gangsters Act. One of the 11 was a juvenile at the time; his case continues before the juvenile justice board. Proceedings in the Gangsters Act case had been largely concluded by February, but were delayed after gunner Avnish Pratap Singh sought additional time to present his defence. The court completed the hearing and delivered its verdict on Tuesday. All nine convicts were produced before the court from separate jails, Pathak from Agra jail, the others from various facilities across the state. After the sentence was pronounced, all were returned to custody....