New Delhi, Jul 19 (IANS): Four years after he robbed and killed an elderly professor, Mukesh Kumar has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court.

Additional Sessions Judge Narinder Kumar in his order passed Tuesday sent Mukesh Kumar to prison for life for the Feb 3, 2008 murder of V.K. Gupta, who was a bachelor and coached at the Sachdeva college in west Delhi's Patel Nagar.

"The convict has committed the murder of a professor while committing robbery at his room," said the court, observing that Gupta had been murdered just two days before his 73rd birthday on Feb 5, 2008.

The details of the ruling were made available Thursday.

The prosecution, the court said, had established that Mukesh Kumar and another man, who is still absconding, had robbed a mobile phone from the professor. The two were seen in Gupta's room on the day of the murder.

The mobile was found in Mukesh Kumar's possession when he was arrested April 13, 2008.

On Feb 5, 2008, police had found the professor's body, lying on the bed. His hands were tied and a cloth was stuffed in his mouth. A muffler was tied around his neck and then tied to the bed.