Anantapur: Anantapur District Sessions Court on Monday sentenced five persons to undergo life imprisonment in a murder case.

Significantly, the accused circulated the video of their killing on social media to create fear among people in their surrounding parts. The video had been treated as the main evidence, though the witnesses failed in recognising the accused.

Sources said Matti Pavan Kumar of Narpala in Anantapur district had minor disputes with his friend Shazid, which led to regular quarrels between them. When the quarrels became life-threatening, Matti Pavan Kumar parents shifted to Anantapur three years ago.

On April 12, 2022, Pavan Kumar and his father Srinivasulu went to Narpala to get rice from their FP shop. However, Pavan Kumar ended up fighting with Shajid and attacked the latter with a knife.

Shajid then hatched a plan to eliminate Pavan Kumar. One day, Shajid, along with his close friends C. Ramesh, C. Nagendra, T. Sudhakar and T. Arun, found Pavan Kumar in an orchard on the outskirts of Narpala. The five attacked Pavan Kumar with steel rods and killed him on the spot.

Shazid had earlier directed one of his friends to shoot the killing of Pavan Kumar on a mobile phone. He posted this video on social media so that this would terrorise people of areas surrounding Narpala. The video went viral on social media.

Based on the video, District Sessions Court Judge G. Srinivas awarded life-term imprisonment to the five accused. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 20 on each of the accused in the case.

Anantapur SP P. Jagadish appreciated the police team for prosecuting the case successfully.