Ballia: A court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing a youth and trying to bury his body in a pit in his house, police said on Saturday.

Special Judge Ramkripal on Friday held Dharmendra Gupta guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment, Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh said.

He said the court also imposed a fine of Rs 11,000 on Gupta.

According to the prosecution, on May 30, 2021, Gupta took his friend Jitendra Sahni to his house in Jalalpur Nai Basti under the Kotwali police station area and killed him. He tried to bury the body after digging a pit in his house.

Based on a complaint by Sahni’s brother, Omprakash, a case was registered against Gupta under sections 302 (murder) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code.

After investigation, police filed a charge sheet against the accused in the court.