New Delhi: March 24, 2008 -  From a custodian of the law to a convicted law breaker, life has come full circle for suspended senior IPS officer R K Sharma.

Nine years after Indian Express reporter, Shivani Bhatnagar was brutally murdered, a Delhi court found former Haryana top-cop, R K Sharma and three others guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.

On Monday, all four accused including RK Sharma were awarded life imprisonment. He is the first IPS officer in the country to be convicted of murder.

The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on RK Sharma, while the other three have been fined Rs 10,000 each.

The death penalty was not awarded to RK Sharma only because he does not have a criminal past and the court said that it was not the rarest of the rare case.