3 cabbies get life for murdering Andhra jewel merchant

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

Ten years after the sensational murder of a jewel merchant from Andhra Pradesh in Bengaluru, three cab drivers who were accused in the case have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Sessions court in the city. The deceased, Manoj Kumar Grandhi, was a jewel merchant from Vishakapatnam from Andhra Pradesh, and a relative of former Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah.

He had come to Bengaluru in February 2012 and went missing. His body was subsequently found in Charmadi Ghat and three cab drivers were arrested in connection with his murder. Gold and diamonds worth Rs 3 crore was recovered from the three accused. Grandhi had come to Bengaluru and had purchased large amounts of gold and diamonds. Ravikumar, a driver at a cab service was driving him around.

Ravikumar hatched a plan with his friends Krishnegowda and Shivalingaiah to murder Grandhi and steal the jewels from him. While dropping Grandhi off at the airport he feigned a problem with the car and parked it next to another car near the Windsor Manor hotel on Ballari Road. The two accomplices got into the car. Grandhi was murdered and his body was dumped in Charmadi Ghat.

Since Grandhi had signed the trip sheet for the cab travel, the police had a tough time cracking the case. After ten long years, the trial was completed in the case, and the prosecution managed to prove the guilt of the three accused. The LII Additional City Civil and Sessions Court judge BG Pramoda sentenced Ravikumar, Krishnegowda and Shivalingaiah for the murder of Manoj Kumar Grandhi on February 7, 2012.

The three were found guilty of murder under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs 10,000. They were also found guilty under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC for which they were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.10,000. Under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) they were sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment.

The court said that there was no reason to punish them with death. “Having considered the facts and circumstances of the cases, I am of the opinion that no extraneous circumstances appear to consider punishing the accused with the death penalty,” the court said. The three sought to set off for the period they have already served as under trials.

They have been in custody since their arrest in 2012. However, the court noted that the benefit of set-off contemplated under the Section 428 of Criminal Procedure Code would not be available to the life convicts. “I am of the opinion that the accused are not entitled to the benefit of set-off of the period of detention undergone by them during the course of the trial of the court as prayed for by them,” the court said.