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Thursday, Jan 20, 2005

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Police say they have the necessary evidence

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI, JAN. 19. With the chargesheet in the Sankararaman murder case getting ready, the police say there is evidence with regard to the motivation, preparation and conduct of the accused. Besides the innumerable letters written by the victim, Sankararaman, manager of the Sri Varadarajaperumal temple, Kancheepuram, there is other documentary evidence in the form of hotel receipts and the record of calls made that speak for themselves, police sources say.

The mens rea (criminal intent) in the case is clear. There is evidence to prove that there was a meeting of minds among the accused, the most important factor in any conspiracy, the sources explain. The police have seized about 150 letters written by Sankararaman to the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, since 2001. Of these, 39 letters were received with acknowledgement. What prompted the victim to write the letters was the alleged attack on him and his family members when they went to pay homage at the `samadhi' of the Paramacharya.

As regards the meeting of minds of the accused, the police say they are armed with the statements of the key accused regarding their visit to the Sankara Mutt before and after the murder and the record of calls made by the perpetrators before and after the murder. The police seem to be depending crucially on the statements of two of the accused conspirators to a magistrate.

Investigations show, according to the police, that prior to the murder, the hirelings stayed at a lodge in Kancheepuram after returning from Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh. From the lodge, one of the key accused contacted the Mutt. There is evidence to show they later visited the Mutt and held discussions. Witnesses have identified the gang members who came to Sankararaman's house on September 2, 2004 to kill him. Since he was away, their plan did not materialise.

The next day, the gang went to the temple, identified the manager and killed him. The police say they have accounts of eyewitnesses including a person working in the temple. After the murder, one of the gangsters contacted the leader who was at that time in a star hotel in Chennai, from a telephone booth at Walajabad, near Kancheepuram. The message regarding the killing was conveyed to one of the conspirators by the leader.

The police have seized the vehicles, including two cars, used in the commission of the offence and have documentary evidence in the form of the statement of the driver to the magistrate.

"We have clear evidence with regard to the motive, preparation and the conduct of the accused. Of the four main conspirators, two of them have given statements to magistrate, though one of them later retracted his statement," the police say.

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