CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the trial court's order acquitting nine associates of Veerappan in the 2000 abduction case related to Kannada actor Rajkumar.
Rajkumar was abducted by Veerappan and his associates on July 30, 2000, from his farmhouse at Thottakajanur near Thalavadi in Erode district. He was released after 108 days.
A total of 14 persons, including Veerappan, were arrayed as accused in the case. Veerappan, Sethukuli Govindan, Chandra Gowda and Sethumani were killed in an encounter with the Special Task Force (STF) in 2004. Another accused, Ramesh, remained untraceable.
The trial, which was conducted over 18 years by as many as 10 judges, concluded on September 25, 2018, when the Gobichettipalayam Sessions Court acquitted the surviving nine accused — Govindaraj, Andril, Pasuvanna, Puttusamy, Kalmandiraman, Maran, Selvam, Amirthalingam and Nagaraj — of all charges.
The trial court held that the prosecution had failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt the alleged nexus between the accused and the Veerappan gang.
The court also noted that none of Rajkumar's blood relatives had lodged a complaint and that the de facto complainant was the then Thottakajanur Village Administrative Officer (VAO).
Further, the trial court observed that Rajkumar and his wife, Parvathammal, did not participate in the identification parade conducted for the accused and did not depose before the court as witnesses.
Aggrieved by the acquittal, the CB-CID preferred an appeal before the High Court in 2019. Five years later, a Division Bench comprising Justice P Velmurugan and Justice M Jothiraman declined to interfere with the acquittal and dismissed the appeal, thereby confirming the trial court's order.