TIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The three accused in the sensational Syed Ali murder case, which had rocked the capital city eight years ago, have been sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment.
Thiruvananthapuram VI Additional District and Sessions Judge P N Seetha on Monday pronounced the verdict on the three accused - Sajeer, 29, his brother Rafeek, 24, and Hussein Abbas, 25, all residents of Vallakkadavu - for stabbing Ali to death in Chalai on September 6, 2010.
The trio have been fined `2 lakh each, failing which they will have to remain in prison for one more year. The accused were given life sentences under charges of murder and criminal conspiracy, one-month sentence for illegal confinement and a year term for inflicting wounds with lethal weapons. All the sentences will run concurrently.Shafeek - the first accused - had died during the trial. The prosecution case was that Ali’s was a revenge killing. He was accused of killing Sathar aka Atta Sathar, uncle of the first three accused, at a bar in Eenchakkal in 2008.
Sathar’s nephews were waiting for a chance at retribution and their wait finally bore fruit on September 6, 2010. The four-member gang spotted Ali, his sister Nabeesa and her daughter Mehrjan, then a minor, in front of a textile shop in Ruby Nagar. One of them stabbed Ali with a sharp blade. Ali tried to flee into a mobile phone shop nearby, but the gang bludgeoned him with a soda bottle after which he fell down. Ali was then stabbed repeatedly.
The case had nine witnesses, including Nabeesa and Mehrjan, but everybody except the duo turned hostile during the trial. Public prosecutor M Salahudeen said the bloodstains found on the weapons and the clothes worn by the assailants turned vital in solving the case. Rafeek had argued that he was not present at the scene of the crime and was with his wife, who had been admitted at the Medical College Hospital for delivery. However, he failed to prove that it was impossible for him to reach the spot from the hospital.