Mangaluru (Karnataka), Jul 27 Four persons were given life imprisonment in a court here on Monday in a 2014 case of murder which was initially portrayed as a road accident.
Second Additional District cum Sessions Judge V N Jagadish held Satish Baikampady (57), Pushparaj (47), Harish Baikampady (61) and Bhaskar Baikampady (63) guilty of murdering Gangadhara Pangala on May 15, 2014.
According to the prosecution, the accused, nursing a grudge against Pangala, conspired to kill him after holding him responsible for the suspension of Satish Baikampady from the Baikampady Mogaveera Mahasabha.
The prosecution said the accused chased Pangala's scooter in a Bolero vehicle near Ganesh Shipping Godown at Meenakaliya in Panambur police station limits and deliberately rammed it from behind. After confirming that Pangala had died from the injuries sustained in the crash, they fled the spot, attempting to portray the incident as a road accident.
The case was initially registered as an accident but was later converted into a murder case after investigation revealed evidence of a criminal conspiracy.
The court sentenced all four accused to life imprisonment under relevant provisions of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 each. They were also awarded two years' simple imprisonment under section 201 IPC for causing disappearance of evidence.
Of the total fine amount, the court directed Rs 50,000 to be paid as compensation to the victim's daughter, while the remaining amount will be credited to the government. The Bolero vehicle and two other vehicles used in the offence were ordered to be confiscated.
The investigation was carried out by Panambur police officers N R Mukri, Bhaskar Rai and Ravish Naik, while Lokesh A C completed the probe and filed the chargesheet. Public Prosecutor Jyothi Pramod Nayak appeared for the state.
