Three accused in Shankar murder case released from prison

Following the Madras High Court order on the 2016 Udumalpet Shankar murder case, three of the accused, including the prime accused, were released from the Coimbatore Central Prison on Tuesday.

B. Chinnasamy, who was the prime accused, along with K. Dhanraj and M. Manikandan came out of the prison around 5.30 p.m., police sources said.

Meanwhile, the five assailants – P. Jagatheesan, M. Manikandan, P. Selvakumar, P. Kalaithamilvaanan and M. Mathan – are still lodged at Coimbatore Central Prison serving life imprisonment, sources said.

Mr. Chinnasamy was accused of hiring contract killers to murder V. Shankar on March 13, 2016, because the latter had married his daughter C. Kowsalya. Shankar was from a Scheduled Caste, while Mr. Chinnasamy belonged to an Other Backward Classes (OBC) caste. In December 2017, a trial court in Tiruppur awarded death sentence to Mr. Chinnasamy, life sentence to Mr. Dhanraj and five years of imprisonment to Mr. Manikandan. These sentences were set aside by Madras High Court on Monday and it ordered the three to be released forthwith. The High Court commuted the death sentences of the five assailants to life imprisonment.

Protest staged

Untouchability Eradication Front staged a demonstration outside the Tiruppur District Collectorate on Tuesday condemning the Madras High Court’s verdict. The members also petitioned Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan.