Accused in Pothencode Sudheesh murder case awarded life imprisonment
The Special SC/ST Court in Nedumangad sentenced all the 11 accused in the sensational murder case of Pothencode native Sudheesh to life imprisonment on Wednesday.
Judge A. Shajahan found the accused persons, Sudheesh alias Sudheesh Unni, Shyam Kumar, Rajesh alias Ottakam Rajesh, Nidheesh, Nandeesh, Renjith, Sreenath, Suraj, Arun, Jishnu Pradeep and Sachin, guilty of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
They were also found guilty for other offences including those under Sections 143, 144 and 149 (unlawful assembly), 147 and 148 (rioting), 302 (murder), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 449 (house-trespass) of IPC. All except Nidheesh, Nandeesh and Arun have also been found guilty under Section 27 (use of arms and ammunition) of the Arms Act. The convicts have been fined ₹25,000 each, and the deceased's mother would be provided a compensation of ₹1 lakh following a plea made by the prosecution.
The court exonerated the accused persons of charges under Section 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The prosecution, led by Special Public Prosecutor T. Geena Kumari, had sought capital punishment for Sudheesh Unni and Rajesh. While Sudheesh Unni, the prime accused, had chopped off the victim's leg and threw it on the road, Rajesh was the mastermind behind the crime, claiming the case could be deemed as 'rarest of rare'.
The gang murdered Sudheesh of Chembakamangalam in Pothencode on December 11, 2021. Gang rivalry had led to the brutal murder.
The prosecution faced numerous challenges, particularly after most eyewitnesses and several witnesses turned hostile during the trial. Several witnesses were intimidated by habitual offenders linked to the accused individuals, the prosecution alleged.
Scientific evidence proved crucial in enabling the investigators in piecing together the evidence. The investigation team was led by the then Nedumangad DySP M.K. Zulfikar.
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