Ghaziabad, Oct. 8 -- A Ghaziabad court has sentenced a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) councillor and his accomplice, a retired Army man, to life imprisonment for the 2004 murder of a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, Naresh Yadav, who was gunned down outside his office in broad daylight over a political rivalry. The verdict, delivered on Monday by additional district and sessions judge Junaid Muzaffar, found BSP leader Manish Pandit, now 60, and his aide Manoj Kumar, 52, guilty of murder and attempted murder. The two were convicted under Sections 302/34 (murder with common intention) and 307/34 (attempt to murder with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The court awarded them life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.25,000 each for murder, along with seven years' imprisonment for attempt-to-murder charge. According to the prosecution, Pandit, a resident of Ram Nagar, and Kumar, from Nithora, arrived outside Yadav's office in Ram Nagar around 5.30pm on November 14, 2004, and opened fire. The SP leader was shot 13 times, as per the post-mortem report, and succumbed to his injuries. The first information report (FIR) was lodged by Vijay Pal Singh, Yadav's brother and then secretary of the Ghaziabad Bar Association, at the Sihani Gate police station. Investigators seized seven empty cartridges and a .32 calibre bullet from the crime scene, though the weapons were never found. Despite that, the court said the prosecution had presented "cogent and credible" evidence, relying heavily on the testimony of Jitendra Yadav, Naresh's nephew and the lone eyewitness, who was also injured in the attack. In his testimony, he told the court that political rivalry was the motive. "An Assembly bypoll had been held shortly before the incident. Manish Pandit contested on a BSP ticket, and my uncle supported the SP candidate, Surendra Kumar Munni, who eventually won. This created enmity between them," he said. Recounting the day of shooting, Jitendra said, "Around 5.30pm, my uncle and I were standing outside our office when Manish and Manoj arrived with guns. Manish shouted that my uncle was responsible for his defeat, and they began firing. I was shot and lost consciousness. I regained consciousness 12-14 days and learned my uncle had died." During the trial, Manoj Kumar claimed he was on duty at the Army headquarters in Delhi on the day of the shooting and presented an Army officer as a defence witness. However, the court noted no duty records, entry or exit timings, or eyewitnesses were produced to corroborate his alibi. "One prosecution witness turned hostile, and the defence produced several doctors to suggest Jitendra's statement to the police was an afterthought," said Mamta Gautam, ADGC. "But the court found Jitendra's account consistent and credible. His testimony became the foundation of the conviction."The case stretched over two decades, with both sides filing multiple petitions and appeals. Final arguments in the case continued for nearly five years, before the court finally pronounced judgment on Monday, she added....