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Saturday, Jan 22, 2005

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Police file charge sheet in Sankararaman murder case

By V. Venkatasubramanian

K. Premkumar, Superintendent of Police, talking to reporters in Kancheepuram on Friday after filing the charge sheet in the Sankararaman murder case. — Photo: A. Muralitharan

KANCHEEPURAM, JAN. 21. The Special Investigation Team of the Tamil Nadu Police today filed the charge sheet in the Kancheepuram Sankararaman murder case listing the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, as Accused 1 and the junior Sankaracharya, Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, as Accused 2. Building contractor Ravi Subramaniam, who turned approver, is not among the 24 accused arraigned in the case.

The Chief Investigation Officer, S.P. Sakthivelu, handed over a copy of the charge sheet to the Judicial Magistrate-I, G. Uthamaraj, in his chamber around 12.30 p.m. The 1,873-page charge sheet names 370 witnesses and includes 712 documents, the Superintendent of Police, K. Premkumar, told reporters. The Magistrate accepted the charge sheet. Copies to be given to the 24 accused will be ready by Monday or Tuesday and submitted at the court.

Absolved of all charges

To a question, Mr. Premkumar said that Ravi Subramaniam, who was earlier Accused 2 in the case, was being included as Prosecution Witness 1. "He has been absolved of all charges," the SP said.

The Kanchi Mutt manager, N. Sundaresa Iyer, and Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi's brother, R. Raghu, have been listed as Accused 3 and 4. Appu alias Krishnasamy, who was arrested at Puthur in Andhra Pradesh after a massive manhunt, is Accused 5.

According to Mr. Premkumar, sections of the Indian Penal Code, which attract punishments such as death sentence and life imprisonment, have been fixed on the basis of eyewitness accounts and circumstantial evidence. The role of each accused in the murder has been established. Of the 370 witnesses examined, about 50 had given statements before a magistrate.

"Between Lord and Acharya"

Asked whether any new evidence had been included or gathered by the investigation team after the submission made before the Supreme Court during Kanchi Acharya's bail plea hearing, Mr. Premkumar said he could not say anything in this regard now. "It is between the Lord Varadaraja and Kanchi Sankaracharya. The incident took place at His temple. He was an eyewitness to the crime. We are just `instruments' who conducted the investigation," he replied when asked whether the Special Investigation Team was confident that the case would stand judicial scrutiny. He and the Chief Investigating Officer went to the Varadarajaperumal temple this morning and offered special prayers before filing the charge sheet, which was done after rahukalam. The SP ruled out the possibility of the case being tried at a special court saying that the trial would be conducted in a regular court.

The Additional Public Prosecutor, K. Sampath, the Koyambedu Police Inspector, R. Srinivasan, and the Vellore (North) Police Inspector, Samudrakani, were present in the Magistrate's chamber when the chief investigation officer filed the charge sheet.

The filing of the charge sheet marks the culmination of over four months of investigation into the murder of A. Sankararaman, manager, Varadarajaperumal temple, on September 3, 2004. It was by the end of October, when five persons surrendered in a Chennai court owning up the crime that the probe picked up momentum. Investigation proved that these persons, including one who was in jail at the time of the crime, were not actually involved in the murder.

The police then arrested those who they alleged arranged for the proxy surrender. Interrogation of the gang members led by Kathiravan, Accused 6 in the case, led to the arrest of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi on November 11.

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