VILLUPURAM: The Kallakuruchi court, for the first time in its history on Wednesday, awarded not one but four life sentences to a man, who killed four of his friends by serving them liquor mixed with pesticide over a land dispute in 2015.
According to police, Ramakrishnan (35) of Ulagudayanpattu village is a graduate and was running a tutorial at Kallakuruchi. Ramakrishnan’s grandfather gave him 1.15 acres of land. Ramakrishnan’s younger brother Murali asked him to give a share of the land saying that he had spent for Ramakrishnan’s studies. But Ramakrishnan refused.
Murali then asked Ramakrishnan to sell him the land for `4 lakh. But Ramakrishnan refused that too. Murali then took the matter to Ramakrishnan’s friends S Kanagaraj (42), K Morthy (32) and A Muniyan (80), all three of Ulaguyanpattu and Panchacharam (35) of Velakuruchy village.
This irked Ramakrishnan, who hatched a plan to murder his friends. He called all four to Kanagaraj’s house on the night of January 24, 2015 and served them liquor mixed with poison. Ramakrishnan, who acted like drinking the liquor, escaped from the spot once the quartet started vomiting. He also locked the house from the outside. The following morning, nearby villagers found the quartet lying dead.
On information, the Sankarapuram police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies to the Mundiampakkam Government Medical College and Hospital for an autopsy. Doctors confirmed that the four had died after consuming liquor mixed with poison. Following this, a case was registered and a search was launched to arrest Ramakrishnan, who was absconding. On January 27, 2015, Ramakrishnan surrendered before S Kolathur village administrative officer Vijayaraja, who handed him over to the Sankarapuram police. During inquiry, Ramakrishnan confessed to the crime. Ramakrishnan said he killed the quartet as they compelled him to give the land to his brother Murali, who was living alone.
When the matter came up on Wednesday, Additional District Court III judge J Juliet Pushpa found Ramakrishnan guilty and sentenced him for four life imprisonments. She also imposed a fine of `20,000 on him.