Murder for 6 feet land: Six get life term in Vellore

According to police, the victim Mathiazhagan (44) and Karunakaran (50), were both neighbours and each had lands on the same street where they resided. There was a 6-foot poromboke land in between their plots, which was the bone of contention between the duo. Both claimed rights over the 6-foot poromboke land. Trouble started on September 20, 2012, when Karunanakran was digging the poromboke land despite objections from Mathiazhagan and wife Dharani (41). This led to a verbal altercation between the neighbours and locals intervened and pacified them. However, an enraged Karunakaran along with five others, identified as Sankar (51), Hari Krishnan (28), Arun Kumar (25), Thulasiraman (46) and Ramani (55), returned to the spot with rods and attacked the couple. Mathiazhagan was killed on the spot. A badly injured Dharani then lodged a complaint with the Veppankuppam police. Following this, the police registered a case and arrested the accused. Later all accused were produced before the Vellore first additional sessions court. After the hearing on Wednesday, Judge Vetriselvi sentenced all six accused to undergo life imprisonment and slapped a fine on all of them, which worked to a total of Rs 44,500. The convicts were then lodged at Vellore central prison.