A Jharkhand court on Wednesday sentenced all ten convicts in the Tabrez Ansari lynching case of June 2019 to ten years in prison, PTI reported.

On June 25, Additional Sessions Judge Amit Shekhar convicted 10 out of the 13 persons arrested in the case. Two persons were acquitted as no evidence was found against them. One accused person died during the trial.

Those convicted were Prakash Mandal, Bhim Singh Munda, Kamal Mahato, Madan Nayak, Atul Mahali, Sunamo Pradhan, Vikram Mandal, Chamu Nayak, Prem Chand Mahali and Mahesh Mahali.

Ansari, 24, was assaulted by a mob in the Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand in June 2019 on suspicion of theft. He was tied to a pole and beaten for 12 hours and was forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”.

Ansari was subsequently taken into custody and produced before a court, which sent him to judicial remand. Three days after the assault, he fell ill and was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Initially, the Jharkhand Police had dropped the murder charge in the first chargesheet, contending that Ansari had died of a cardiac arrest due to stress and not of injuries. However, after facing flak, the Jharkhand Police reinstated murder charges against the 13 accused persons.