Bengaluru, April 18 -- In a landmark judgment, former Minister Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni and 15 others were yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment with Rs. 30,000 fine each by a Special Court for People's Representatives here in connection with the 2016 murder of BJP leader Yogeesh Gowda.

Earlier this week, Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat had convicted Vinay Kulkarni and others under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Channakeshava B. Tingarikar, the Investigating Officer (IO) at the time (Accused No. 19), was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for destruction of evidence, while other two accused, Vasudev Rama Nilekani and Somashekhar Nyamagowda, were acquitted on the benefit of doubt....