Janakpur, July 1 -- The Janakpur High Court on Wednesday sentenced former lawmakers Laxmi Mahato Koiri, and Abhiram Sharma to five years in prison in the 2015 murder of an Armed Police Force (APF) officer during the 'Madhesh movement'.

A division bench of acting chief judge Tek Bahadur Kunwar and judge Murari Babu Shrestha handed down the verdict in the case involving the killing of Assistant Sub Inspector Thaman BK in Jaleshwar, Mahottari.

Koiri, a former House of Representatives member, and Sharma, a former provincial lawmaker, had both been suspended following the murder case.

The ruling overturns a December 2023 verdict of the Mahottari District Court, which had acquitted Koiri of the murder charge while sentencing Sharma to life i...