ERODE: The third additional district court in Gobichettipalayam in Erode district on Tuesday acquitted all nine surviving accused in the sensational Kannada actor Rajkumar kidnapping case.
All of them were acquitted from the actor Rajkumar kidnapping case by Gobi third additional district court judge Mani on Tuesday on the ground of the prosecution did not prove the charges beyond doubt.
The nine persons released by the course are Govindaraj 48, Andril 45, Selvam 43, Maran 48, Nagaraj 47, Muthusamy 53, Basuvanna 57, Kalmandirama 52 and Amirtha lingam 44. It may be recalled that late forest brigand Veerappan and its gang kidnapped Rajkumar, who came for a housewarming ceremony of his new house, and his son in law SA Govindaraj, a relation Nagesh, an assistant director Nagappa in gunpoint from his farmhouse at Thottakajanur, Thalavadi, on the border of TN and Karnataka, on the
night of July 30, 2000.
At that time, Rajkumar’s wife Parvathammal and family members were present. The gang kept him under its custody in the Sathy forest area for 108 days and released on Nov 15, 2000. The incident created much tension in both TN and Karnataka and strained the relations between them.
Veerappan kept Rajkumar as hostages and demanded many things for their release including an unveiling of Thiruvalluvar statue in Bangaluru. The Thalavadi police registered a case. Though both Rajkumar, and Veerappan, who was later shot dead by STF near Dharmapuri in 2004, have died already, the case was being conducted in the court for the past 18 years and 2 months. The charge sheet was filed
nearly seven years back and around 10 judges inquired about the case over the years till date.
When the case was come up for hearing on Monday, 5 among the 9 accused, who were alive now, appeared in the court. They were Govindaraj, Andril, Basuvanna, Puttusamy, Kalmandiraman. Judge Mani ordered that all 9 accused should appear in the court on September 25, when the verdict would be given.
In the case, 47 witnesses appeared and the total number of accused in the case was 13. The prime accused Veerappan, Sethukuli Govindan, Rangasamy died already. It may be recalled in another case, charges were framed against 26 persons including 7 women, for their alleged involvement in the abduction case.
One among the accused was Muthulakshmi, wife of Veerappan. All of them were relatives and some among them were aged. Among the accused 2 died and 11 including Muthulakshmi were acquitted by Erode judicial magistrate court on Oct 30, 2012 on the ground of prosecution did not prove charges beyond doubt. The rest were convicted to 1-year imprisonment at that time.