Mohali, July 9 -- A local court has awarded life imprisonment to a man in the 2022 murder of an auto driver in Balongi while acquitting two co-accused after finding insufficient evidence against them. The court also imposed a fine of Rs.20,000 on the convict. Additional sessions judge, fast track special court, Vikrant Kumar convicted Ravi Sharma under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while clearing accused Jaspreet Singh alias Valley and Satnam Singh alias Bobby of the charges under Sections 302, 323/324 (causing hurt) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). According to the prosecution, victim Lal Rattan, was standing near his auto-rickshaw with fellow auto drivers Anil Kumar and Sonu on the night of January 24, 2022, when five men arrived on two motorcycles and asked whether they knew a person named "Bhardwaj". After Rattan replied that he did not know anyone by that name, one of the assailants allegedly stabbed him in the abdomen. Anil also sustained a knife injury on his leg, while Sonu suffered injuries in the assault. The injured were first taken to the civil hospital in Phase 6, Mohali, and later referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where Rattan died during treatment. The FIR was initially registered on the statement of the deceased's brother, Sanjay Kumar, who suspected another person. During investigation, police reviewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage and nominated Sharma,Jaspreet, Satnam, one Ompreet Singh and another accused, Monu, and recovered a knife and other articles. During the trial, key prosecution witnesses, including injured witnesses Anil, Sonu and victim's brother, partly retracted their earlierstatements. They were declared hostile. The court then relied on forensic evidence and held that the DNA profile of the blood found on the knife, recovered at Sharma's instance, matched blood samples collected from the crime scene, establishing his role in the murder. The court, however, found no evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy or common intention involving Jaspreet and Satnam. It also noted that forensic examination did not detect human blood on the clothes allegedly recovered from them and that no evidence proved they inflicted injuries on the deceased. The prosecution sought the death penalty, arguing that the case fell within the "rarest of rare" category. The court rejected the plea, holding that the case did not meet the legal threshold for capital punishment. Proceedings against co-accused Monu will continue after his arrest, while the case against a juvenile accused has beenseparated....