Chennai, March 25 (IANS) The Madras High Court bench in Madurai on Monday sentenced a retired police official to four years imprisonment in the 2007 Dinakaran newspaper burning case which had left three persons dead.
The court sentenced retired police official Rajaram for dereliction of his duties.
The court on March 21 awarded life imprisonment to nine people convicted in the case.
The court also sentenced seven other accused to five-year jail terms and said Rajaram should appear before the court on Monday for his sentencing.
The High Court’s verdict came on an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the lower court acquitted all the accused.
The High Court also ordered the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 500,000 to the families of the three employees of Dinakaran daily – Gopinath, Vinod and Muthuramalingan – who were killed in the attack.
Amongst the accused sentenced for life is V.P. Pandi also known as ‘Attack Pandi’, a supporter of former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri, who was expelled from the DMK some years back.
In 2007, the Dinakaran daily published a survey report on who would be the preferred successor of late DMK President M. Karunanidhi.
As per the survey, Alagiri was ranked, below Stalin, which angered the former’s supporters who attacked the daily’s office in Madurai with petrol bombs, resulting in a fire and the death of three employees.
–IANS
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