A special CBI court here on Tuesday sentenced 9 convicts to life term in prison in the sensational murder of young industrialist Paul George.
Earlier in the day, the court found thirteen accused guilty in the murder that took place in 2009.
The court observed that 9 convicts, including the first accused T. Jayachandran and second accused 'Kaari' Satheesh, a professional killer, are directly linked to the murder.
Six convicts (accused number 2-7) have been slapped with a fine of Rs 55,000 while Jayachandran is fined Rs 50,000.
The other four, who helped in destroying the evidence, are sentenced to 3 years in jail and fined Rs 5,000.
The court said that the charges of murder and unlawful assembling against the accused are proven while agreeing to the findings of the CBI.
Fourteenth accused Aneesh has been acquitted by the court.
Quotation case
In a related quotation case, in which 'Kaari' Satheesh and others were named as accused, the court found all 14 guilty.
The convicts in this case have also been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 3 years.
The convicts in both the murder and the quotation cases will serve the jail terms concurrently.
According to the CBI, Paul George was murdered during an altercation in connection with a bike accident when the quotation gang was on their way to Alappuzha commit another murder.
The quotation was given by Alappuzha native Abi to attack a man named Shameer.
Prosecution sought maximum punishment
First accused Jayachandran has pleaded before the court to be lenient on him as he is the only support for his parents. Jayachandran also told the court he has to take care of his cancer-stricken mother.
However, the prosecution sought maximum punishment for the convicted saying that they don't deserve mercy.
Probe officials said that 'Kaari' Satheesh had stabbed the Paul to death near Alappuzha on August 21, 2009.
123 witnesses
The CBI had submitted two chargesheets against the gang based in Changanassery; one for murdering Paul M. George and another for the murder they had planned in Alappuzha.
However, the trial progressed by combining the two chargesheets into one. The court recorded statements of 123 witnesses in the case, including that of Paul George's driver Shibu Thomas.
Though the Kerala Police had indicted gang leaders Om Prakash and Puthanpalam Rajesh who left an injured Paul George on the way, the CBI had made them witnesses-turned-approvers.
The two had submitted in the court that they hadn't witnessed the crime and that they didn't even know Paul George. Manu, who was accompanying Paul George on the fateful day, recognised the accused, including 'Kaari' Satheesh.
'S' knife
The controversial 'S' knife also came up during the arbitration in the court. When police produced an 'S' knife in the court in connection with the case, the CBI rejected it as false evidence and later produced the knife used for the murder.
The statement of investigating officer DySP K.M. Tony that the 'S' knife was recovered because 'Kaari' Satheesh had given a misleading information made a significant point during the trial.
According to Kerala police, the murder of young businessman Paul George bore striking resemblances to the Kanichukulangara triple murder case. The police did not rule out the involvement of professional quotation gangs. The police suspected that the gang executed their plan after receiving tip-off on Paul’s trip to Alappuzha from Kochi. The place and the time chosen to murder him had also helped them to have a smooth escape after committing the crime. The finger of suspicion was pointed towards the persons who had been with Paul since a couple of days before the incident.
There were deep wounds on the victim’s neck and upper back. The police assumed that there were two persons in the rear seats of the car driven by Paul. When he opened the door and ran for his life, the duo chased him and kept stabbing him pressing his back against a wall till he collapsed. According to the police, normally professional killers resort to such ruthless attack to ensure the victim was dead.
Like in the Kanichukulangara case, the assailants picked out an isolated place to execute the plot. The Jyothi junction on the Alappuzha-Changanassery road is mostly deserted after sunset. The police suspected that the gang members, who were waiting by the roadside, might have received information when Paul reached Mararikulam at night. Praveen alias Manu who had been with Paul when the incident took place suffered only minor injuries. The 12-member gang fled upon seeing Paul’s car driver Shibu rushing to the spot. The mystery deepened after those who were with Paul and Manu escaped in the car in which they were travelling.
Witness Satheesh told police that he had never seen Manu or others before. Later, the police received vital clues confirming Manu’s association with a Thiruvananthapuram-based gang headed by Puthanpalam Rajesh. Manu had told police the first time he met Paul was on the day the crime took place. According to his statements, he came to meet Paul on the advice of a friend.
There had been too many questions that were left unanswered in this case. How did the gang come to know that Paul and his 'friends' were coming to Chambakkulam? Who informed them when the car entered the Alappuzha-Changanassery road. How did they know when driver Shibu, who was escorting them in Paul’s car, took a diversion? Who was tipping them off? The police tried to solve the puzzle by getting answers to all these questions.
If they started their journey from Paul’s office which was located on the Banerji road in Ernakulam, the car would not be able to leave the city evading the surveillance cameras installed at Kaloor, Palarivattom and Vyttila. The police suspected that Paul was forced to drive the car as Manu and the others were in an inebriated condition. The police also probed that whether they were pretending to be drunk. After noticing several glaring contradictions in Manu’s statements, the primary investigation was centred on his role in the crime.
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