Overview

• Raja Kolandar and Bakshraj Kol were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Lucknow CBI court for the 2000 murders of businessman Manoj Kumar Singh and his driver Ravi Srivastava.
• The court also imposed fines and additional concurrent sentences, including rigorous imprisonment for abduction, retaining stolen property, and evidence destruction.
• Kolandar, already serving a life term for the 2000 murder of journalist Dhirendra Singh, became infamous for his ritualistic killings, including beheading victims and consuming their brains.
• The investigation into Dhirendra Singh’s murder uncovered Kolandar’s pig farm, where 14 human skulls labeled with victims’ names were exhumed.
• The sentencing concludes a protracted 25-year judicial process, with Kolandar, his accomplice, and wife Phoolan Devi all serving life sentences in Uttar Pradesh prisons.