Dr Rajkumar kidnapping case: Nine accused acquitted

Team Udayavani, Sep 25, 2018, 6:15 PM IST

Bengaluru/Chennai: All nine accused in Dr. Rajkumar’s abduction case were acquitted by Tamil Nadu’s Gobichettipalayam additional magistrate court today.

Additional District Judge K Mani said that “The prosecution has failed to provide even an iota of evidence to prove that these nine men were connected to Veerappan and (his aide) Sethukuzhi Govindan. Hence, giving benefit of doubt, I acquit all the nine men from the case.”

The accused, Maran, Iniyan, Andril, Sathya, Nagaraj, Puttusamy, Rama, Basavanna and Govindaraj have been acquitted after eight years of court hearings.

It may be recalled that on 30 July 2000, Veerappan kidnapped actor Rajkumar, his son-in-law, S A Govindraj and assistant director Nagappa were also kidnapped by Veerappan near a farmhouse in Erode. He had been released from captivity after 108 days, following several negotiations.