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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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
