Hapur, Mar 12 (IANS): A court in UP's Hapur district on Tuesday convicted all ten persons accused in the 2018 mob lynching case and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

The court of Additional District Judge Shweta Dixit, after hearing both parties, convicted 10 people of killing 45-year-old Qasim and assaulting Samaideen ,62, on a false rumour of cow slaughter.

Government counsel Vijay Chauhan said that the court has also imposed a fine of Rs 58,000 each on the accused -- Rakesh, Hari Om, Yudhishthir, Rinku, Karanpal, Manish, Lalit, Sonu, Kaptan, and Mange Ram of Bajhaida village.

In June 2018, a mob had lynched Qasim, a resident of Bajhaida village, accusing him of slaughtering a banned animal. Samaideen was also assaulted on a false rumour of cow slaughter, but he survived.

The police registered an FIR giving the incident a motorcycle accident angle but after Samaideen moved the Supreme Court, the investigation was brought on track, the government counsel said.

Samaideen had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in 2018 and the court had directed the provision of security and recording of statements under section 164 CrPC and directed IG, Meerut Zone to supervise the investigation.

The prosecution argued that the victim's side does not have any enmity against the accused and only seeks justice. They had also sought death sentences for the convicts.