Gobichettipalayam: In an epic closure to the over 18-year-old case on the sensational kidnap of veteran Kannada actor Rajkumar by sandalwood brigand Veerappan and his associates, a district court in Gobichettipalayam in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday acquitted all the nine surviving accused who were tried in the case, as none of the charges against them were proved by the prosecution.
The Third Additional Sessions Judge, Gobi, Mr Mani , in his order set free all the nine surviving accused- Govindaraj, 46, Andril, 45, Basavannah, 57, Puttusamy, 53, Kalmandiraman, 52, Maran, 48, Selvam 43, Amirthalingam 44, and Nagaraj, 47-, who were among the 14 charge-sheeted in the case.
The much-wanted forest brigand Veerappan and two of his key associates, Sethukuli Govindan and Chandre Gowda, along with others had abducted Rajkumar at gun-point from his farmhouse at Doddagajanur near Thalavadi in Erode district on July 30, 2000. The actor was freed by the brigand after hectic parleys by intermediaries in the forests bordering Tamil Nadu-Karnataka after 108 days captivity. The charge-sheet in the case against 14 accused was filed in 2007.
Rajkumar was Veerappan’s “prize catch” those days and his was the most sensational of abductions by the elusive outlaw, who finally was shot dead along with Sethukuli Govindan and Chandre Gowda by a joint SIT team headed then by Mr. Vijayakumar in an encounter near Dharmapuri on October 18, 2004 night.
Even as the case was being investigated, both Kannada actor Rajkumar and his wife, Parvathavarthini Ammal, who had filed the police complaint, had passed away due to age-related health issues, it may be recalled.
The case was subsequently transferred to a special investigation team of the state CB-CID, Coimbatore, as it had inter-state ramifications.
All the 14 accused in the case were charged under various IPC sections including conspiracy and kidnap, besides under provisions of the Arms Act and the Explosives Substances Act, the prosecution said.
Besides the three main accused in the case, namely Veerappan, Sethukuli Govindan and Chandre Gowda having already died in police encounter, one other accused Kalmani Mallu died last year when the trial was still going on. Yet another accused Ramesh of Neyveli, has been absconding for long years, leaving only nine of the accused being tried and who were appearing in the court during the trial period.
Interestingly, the trial in the case that went on for over ten years, was heard by as many as ten Judges. Only one of the nine accused, Puttusamy, did not appear in court today on health grounds, when the Judge Mr. Mani delivered the verdict.
In a historic judgment, Mr. Mani pointed out to the several flaws in the police investigation, even as he stated that none of the charges against the accused was proved beyond doubt. The Judge in his order said, to start with neither the Kannada thespian Rajkumar nor his wife were enquired by the police.
Emphasising that the filing of the FIR in the case was delayed, the Judge said the prosecution “failed to prove” several cardinal aspects of the case. The Judge said that proper procedure was not followed while some arms were seized on connection with the case. No identification parade of the accused was done.
Referring to the popular Tamil journalist ‘Nakkeeran’ Gopal and some others having gone as an intermediary on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government then to negotiate the release of Dr Rajkumar, the Judge said the police did not inquire them either. Important pieces of evidences were not attached to the case.
The Judge in his order further said that the prosecution had not produced any evidence to establish the kind of links the surviving accused in the case had with Veerappan. Hence, all the nine surviving accused were acquitted, he ruled.
