High Court sentences nine to life imprisonment in 'Dinakaran' office attack case
Madurai: The Madras High Court Thursday convicted nine people to life imprisonment in a case related to the attack on the office of Tamil daily 'Dinakaran' here in 2007 in which three men were killed.
Gopinath, Vinoth and Muthuramalingam were killed in the attack on May 5, 2007. On December 9, 2009, all the 17 people arrested in the case were acquitted of murder charges by a CBI special court.
Later, the CBI, which investigated the case, and Vinoth's mother filed an appeal.
A bench of justices P N Prakash and B Pugalendi of the high court's Madurai bench sentenced 'Attack' Pandi, Vijaya Pandi, Kandasamy, Ramaiah Pandian, Prabhu, V Sudhakar, Thirumurgan, Ruban and Malik Batcha to three terms of life imprisonment.
Cases were filed against them under the Explosives Act and charges of causing damage to properties and murders.
The judges also sentenced them to five years of rigorous imprisonment under under the act. The sentences would be run concurrently. 'Attack' Pandi is, at present, lodged at the Palayamkottai Central Jail for the murder of 'Pottu' Suresh.
The judges directed that the eight others should be arrested immediately and sent to jail. They also directed that Rs 5 lakh each should be given as compensation to families of the three deceased people.
The court has decided that a DSP, Rajaram, was also an accused in the case, and directed him to appear before the court on March 25, the bench said. Saravanamuthu, another accused, died during the trial.
Regarding the seven others, the bench said they would undergo five years of imprisonment under the Explosives Act and on charges of causing damage to properties and murders.
Three employees of the daily were killed in the attack on the office following the publication of a survey which gave an edge to the then deputy chief minister and DMK president late M Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin over his brother and then Union minister M K Alagiri to succeed their father.
The CBI, after a long delay of over four years, had filed the revision petition in 2014.
Of the 17 convicts acquitted by the district and sessions court here in December 2009, 11 had been arrested after the bench issued non-bailable warrants as they failed to appear for hearing of the appeal.
Another convict, Dayamuthu, is absconding and stated to be staying somewhere in Malaysia, while the others have obtained bail.
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
