HC acquits five of Dandupalya gang from life imprisonment
Kalyan Nagar Vedamurthy murder case
Bengaluru, July 18: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday acquitted five of the Dandupalya gang who were sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of murdering a youth at Kalyan Nagar in Bengaluru.
Gang member Venkataramana, Dodda Hanuma, Munikrishna, Thimma and Krishna moved the High Court questioning the Sessions Court verdict. After hearing the arguments, HC Single Bench headed by Justice RB Budihal turned down the lower court’s verdict citing lack of evidences to prove their involvement in the murder.
Dandupalya gang members had entered a house of Anand at HRBR Layout at Kalyan Nagar on May 19, 1999 and killed Vedamurthy of 20 years of age. In this case, Venkataramana, Dodda Hanuma, Munikrishna, Thimma, Krishna and Chinnappa were the accused. The Sessions Court had sentenced all the accused to life imprisonment. But they had moved the High Court. But Chinnappa died when the hearing was going on in the court. On Wednesday, the High Court acquitted the remaining members from the life imprisonment.
Life imprisonment
Dandupalya gang members Dodda Hanuma, Nallathimma, Munikrishna, Venkatesh and Lakshmi were awarded life imprisonment in November 2017. They were convicted in Geeta murder case happened in 2000. More than 35 cases were filed against the gang members who used to enter the single woman houses and kill them by slitting their throats after raping them.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
