The Madras High Court has upheld the acquittal of nine alleged associates of forest brigand Veerappan in the abduction case of Kannada actor Rajkumar.
Dismissing a 2019 appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu police, a Division Bench comprising Justices P. Velmurugan and M. Jothiraman confirmed the September 25, 2018 verdict of the III Additional District and Sessions Court, Gobichettipalayam, in Erode district, which had acquitted the accused.
Rajkumar was abducted along with three others from his farmhouse at Gajanur village in Thalavady taluk of Erode district on July 30, 2000. He was held hostage for 108 days before being released.
Police had filed a charge sheet against 10 accused in the case. However, one of them, C. Mallu, died before the conclusion of the trial. The remaining nine were acquitted by the trial court of charges including attempt to murder and illegal possession of arms.
The nine accused whose acquittal has now been confirmed are S. Maran alias Senguttavan alias Manivannan alias Mullaivalavan alias Kannaiyan; S. Govindaraj alias Megananthan alias Sabha alias Iniyan alias Paranjothi alias Raju; D. Andril alias Elumalai alias Paranjothi; R. Selvam alias Sathya alias Raju; K. Amirthalingam alias Lingam alias Chelzhiyan; Basuvanna; R. Nagaraj; S. Puttusamy; and S. Rama alias Kalmandipuram Rama.
While dismissing the State’s appeal, the High Court said it found no reason to interfere with the well-reasoned judgment of the trial court. The Bench noted that the Sessions Judge had flagged serious procedural lapses, including a delay of about 24 hours in registering the First Information Report (FIR).
The FIR was lodged by a Village Administrative Officer (VAO), who was not an eyewitness. He had stated that he came to know about the incident through the general public, even though the prosecution claimed that the actor and others were abducted in the presence of several persons.
The trial court had also observed that the date in the FIR was altered from July 30, 2000 to July 31, 2000, and that there was no mention of any criminal conspiracy in the complaint. The VAO, too, did not speak about any conspiracy during his testimony.