A court in Bihar on Thursday awarded life sentence to the prime accused in one of the bloodiest massacres in the state's history by an outlawed Maoist outfit, which had hacked to death nearly 40 people three decades ago.

District and Sessions Judge, Gaya, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, also slapped Ram Chandra Yadav alias Kirani with a fine of Rs 3.05 lakh, holding him guilty under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.