The Hindu : Charge sheet filed against Azhagiri in Kiruttinan case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 19, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Charge sheet filed against Azhagiri in Kiruttinan case

By S. Sundar

MADURAI AUG. 18. The police today filed charge sheet in the murder case of former DMK Minister, Kiruttinan, in which M.K. Azhagiri, son of former Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, is cited as the prime accused.

The investigating officer, Murugesan, filed a 356-page charge sheet before Judicial Magistrate II, Jeganathan. The details of investigation, including as many as 114 prosecution witnesses and 92 documentary evidences, were furnished.

The other accused named in the charge sheet are : P.M. Mannan, S.R. Gobi, `Karate'Siva, Karthik, Eswaran, Mani, Balaguru, `Oothal' Pandi, Seenivasan, Raja, Mubarak Mandiri and Ibrahim Sait.

Kiruttinan was murdered on May 20, near his K.K. Nagar residence in Madurai, when he was returning home after a routine morning walk. The police arrested Mr. Azhagiri the next day.

The prosecution pointed out a "running feud" between the deceased and the accused over the functioning of the party in southern districts. After 82 days of imprisonment in the Tiruchi Central prison, Mr. Azhagiri was released on conditional bail by the Madras High Court on August 11.

There appeared to be some confusion in the special investigating team in filing the charge sheet. As Judicial magistrate VI, K. Vanitha, who was hearing the case, was on leave, the police today claimed to have filed the charge sheet before JM VII, Madurai Sekaran.

When it was pointed out that JM II, Jeganathan, was holding additional charge of JM Court VI, the IO again filed the charge sheet before JM II, late in the evening, sources said.

Members of the investigating team said when JM VII was approached, he did not accept the charge sheet, contending that he was on leave.

"There was no compulsion for the police to file the charge sheet today itself, as the prime accused has already been let out on bail. With regard to the other accused, the police had ample time to file the charge sheet," legal sources said.

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