TIRUCHY: Thanjavur court on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to four persons who were involved in the murder of Samathuva Makkal Katchi (SMK) functionary.

According to the prosecution, Paramasivam (38), a resident from Kakkan colony in Kumbakonam and Thanjavur North District SMK deputy secretary, had been running a digital board centre in the locality.

Against such a backdrop, Manikandan (34) from the same locality had picked up a quarrel with Paramasivam over printing a digital banner and he had ransacked the centre and Paramasivam lodged a complaint.

This brewed a prolonged enmity between Paramasivam and Manikandan.

Meanwhile, on October 5, 2015, Manikandan picked up a quarrel with Paramasivam and the people pacified the duo and they went back to their houses. However, Manikandan who was in a rage sought the support of Manimaran (31), Murugan (53), Ayyappan (32), Karthi (31) and Elumalai (60) went to the banner printing centre on October 6, 2015 and picked up a quarrel which snowballed into an assault in which they attacked Paramasivam with lethal weapons and he died on the spot. Subsequently, the Kumbakonam West police registered a case and arrested all the six persons. The case was in progress at Kumbakonam Sessions Court.

On Thursday, Judge Radhika who heard the case awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for Manikandan, Manimaran, Ayyappan and Karthi while Elumalai and Murugan were acquitted.