LUCKNOW, India (AP) - A former Indian official and his wife were sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the 2003 murder of the man's pregnant mistress, a prosecutor said.

The official, Amarmani Tripathi, was a minister in the government of Uttar Pradesh state, when his girlfriend was found murdered in her apartment in Lucknow, the state capital, in May 2003. She had been shot at close range when he found out that she was pregnant, but refused to abort.

The victim, Madhumita Shukla, was seven months pregnant at the time. DNA tests showed Tripathi was the father.

The murder was carried out "at the behest" of Tripathi's wife, Madhumani, "who was opposed to (Shukla's) affair with her husband," said prosecutor Manohar Sharma.

Police investigations uncovered a long, undated and emotional letter, signed by Ms Shukla which contained details about their relationship.

It was addressed to Tripathi and was later made public.

In the letter, she wrote: "Once you got a job for my brother, my entire family started trusting you. You became not only my but my entire family's guardian."

She also wrote that she had fallen in love with Tripathi despite the fact that he used her like a "commodity".

She wrote: "I would stay with you at night like a prostitute but was thrown out in the morning. Still I felt happy
meeting you."

A total of five people were accused in the case, including a cousin, and two men said to be contract killers.

The cousin and one of the men accused of being the hired gun who killed Shukla were also sentenced to life in prison.

The remaining man was acquitted, the news agency said.

The court fined all four 50,000 rupees (US$130, euro90) each, Sharma said. Tripathi, a lawmaker for more than two decades, faces kidnapping and murder charges in other unrelated cases.

India's Supreme Court shifted the location of the trial from Uttar Pradesh state to a neighboring province following concerns by the victim's family that Tripathi might tamper with the evidence because of influence in his home state.

The case is one of several that highlights the connection between crime and politics in India.

Several lawmakers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states are facing criminal charges, including murder and kidnapping. Earlier this month, a former national lawmaker, Anand Mohan, was sentenced to death for his role in the 1994 murder of a government official.

It was the first time a member of parliament received a capital sentence in India.