‘Cannibal', ‘skull collector' sentenced to life in double murder case
A special court of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday awarded life term to Raja Kolandar alias Ram Niranjan Kol, a former Central Ordnance Depot employee-turned-occult practitioner also accused of cannibalism and skull collection, and his accomplice Bachh Raj Kol in a double murder case dating back to 2000.
The two were convicted for the abduction and murder of businessman Manoj Kumar Singh and his driver Ravi Srivastava in 2000. The court also imposed a penalty of ₹2.5 lakh each on the duo.
The prosecution had sought death penalty, but the court ruled that the case did not meet the criteria for the 'rarest of the rare' category due to insufficient evidence. Consequently, it sentenced the two to life imprisonment.
This is the second life term awarded to them 25 years after the crime. Earlier, they were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for murdering a journalist, Dhirendra Singh, in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) in 2000. During that investigation, 14 human skulls labelled with victims' names were exhumed from his pig farm in Pipri village of Prayagraj.
Now aged 63, Kolandar is lodged in Lucknow district jail, while 40-year-old Bachh Raj Kol is incarcerated in Prayagraj jail. Raja was produced in court in person for the sentencing, whereas Bachh Raj joined the proceedings via video conference.
The special judge of CBI court, Lucknow, Rohit Singh awarded life imprisonment to the duo under Section 396/34 of the Indian Penal Code (dacoity and murder with common intention) and a fine of ₹1 lakh each, ten years' rigorous imprisonment under sections 364 (abduction) and 412 (retaining stolen property) along with ₹1 lakh fine for each section, and seven years' imprisonment under Section 201 (destruction of evidence) and a fine of ₹50,000 each.
The court order, a copy of which is with HT, stated that the incident was allegedly held on January 23, 2000, and the FIR was lodged regarding the disappearance of the businessman and car owner, and his driver at Naka police station on January 27, 2000. The CBI filed the chargesheet in court nearly after 14 months of investigation on March 21, 2001. The trial in court got delayed due to multiple reasons.
Raja Kolandar's wife Phoolan Devi, who was also co-accused in the case, has already been awarded life sentence as her trial continued separately.
Haunted record of Raja Kolandar:
The conviction and sentence by the CBI court added to an already grisly criminal record of Raja Kolandar and his brother-in-law Bachh Raj Kol, who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by an Allahabad court in 2012 for the murder of journalist Dhirendra Singh.
Originally named Ram Niranjan Kol, a resident of eastern Uttar Pradesh and belonging to the Kol tribe, a scheduled tribe in India, he worked at the Central Ordinance Store in Naini, Prayagraj, and was also active in politics. His wife was elected as a district panchayat member. Raja was into money-lending business which helped him improve his financial condition.
Known for his eccentric and delusional personality, he believed himself to be a king who could punish anyone he disliked. He named his wife Phoolan Devi, and his sons Adalat and Zamanat.
He was accused of being a cannibal and skull collector after multiple skulls were recovered from his pig farm.
It was alleged that he used to cut off the heads and make soup out of the brain and drink it. Raja and his brother-in-law were booked for kidnapping and murdering Manoj Kumar Singh, 33, and his driver Ravi Srivastava, 25 years ago in the year 2000.
To recall, Manoj had left Lucknow for Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) in his car along with his driver Ravi. En route, they picked up six passengers, including a woman, from Charbagh railway station area. Their last known location was Manoj's house in Rae Bareli's Harchandpur where they took a halt on their way to Allahabad on January 23, 2000.
Manoj's brother testified that he and his brother spoke to the duo when they stopped, and noticed that one of the passengers was ill. The vehicle and its occupants were never seen again. Three days later, a missing report was filed.
The mutilated bodies of Manoj and Ravi were found in Shankargarh forest area in Prayagraj. The brother identified a brown coat, allegedly belonging to Manoj, which was recovered from the residence of Raja Kolandar, with a label from a Rae Bareli tailor. He also testified that the accused, his wife Phoolan Devi and others were present in the vehicle.
The full horror came to light after the murder of journalist Dhirendra Singh surfaced following the disappearance of Manoj and Ravi. His decapitated body was recovered near Rewa from the UP-MP border. Dhirendra's head was not found even after searching the entire forest where his body was recovered. Investigation revealed that Raja was seen on a bike with Dhirendra on the day he disappeared.
Raja was called in for questioning regarding the disappearance of the journalist, and he admitted to killing Dhirendra Singh first. However, it was later established that they had only killed Manoj and Ravi.
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