The deceased was kidnapped and killed by his long-time friend and a gang of three men for refusing to lend him money to tide over a business loss.
Tirupur: Four men who were accused in the month of June in 2018 in the murder case of a relative of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Tirupur Principal Sessions Court on Friday, October 8.
Shivamurthy (47) of Karumarampalayam in Tirupur was murdered by his long-time friend Vimal (35) along with a gang of three men. Vimal who faced a loss in his business demanded a loan from Shivamurthy, which the latter refused. An enreaged Vimal was reported to have decided to kidnap Shivamurthy and demand the money, but ended up killing him in the process.
Shivamurthy’s father, Chinnasamy registered a missing complaint at the Tirupur North Police station after his son did not arrive back home after a day’s trip. Shivamurthy had left his home on June 25. The police registered a case and circulated Shivamurthy’s mobile and vehicle registration numbers to checkposts all over Tamil Nadu. The car had passed through Krishnagiri and Vaniyambadi checkposts on the night of June 26. The Tirupur police informed the Ambur police in Vellore district and alerted them.
The Ambur police seized Shivamurthy’s car during a vehicle check at Vengili on June 27 at 12.30 am, and three men were arrested. The accused were identified as Vimal (35), Gautaman (22) and Mani Bharathi (22) from Karamadai area of Coimbatore district. The trio revealed that they had kidnapped Shivamurthy and threatened him to part with Rs. 50 lakhs, and then had choked him to death. It was also revealed that the body was hid in the car for two days and was thrown into the Kelavarapalli dam near Hosur, in Krishnagiri district.
The police recovered the body from Kelavarapalli Dam, where Shivamurthy's corpse was found taped and a millstone tied on it. Murthy (35), the other accused in the murder was also arrested.
On investigation, it was discovered that Vimal who was outraged by his long-time friend Shivamurthy’s refusal to lend him money, had decided to kidnap him with the help of Murthy, Mani Bharathi and Gautaman who were construction workers. Vimal invited Shivamurthy on a trip to Kotagiri on June 25 and it was reported that Shivamurthy had picked up Vimal from Annur. Mani Bharathi, Gautaman and Murthy joined them at Kurunthamalai Temple.
Thereafter, Shivamurthy was beaten up by the four men in the car. He was tied up and threatened saying they would demand a ransom money of Rs. 50 lakh from Shivamurthy's father. Vimal’s share was Rs. 25 lakh and the remaining money was to be shared by the other three workers. Shivamurthy who yelled out for help was taped tight which eventually caused his death. The men robbed Rs. 1 lakh from Shivamurthy's pocket. One of the men Murthy was paid Rs.40,000 and dropped off at Karamadai, whilst the other three drove around with the corpse, along with the rest of the money that was robbed.
The three men reached Tambaram on June 25 en route to Chennai, disposed the corpse at Kelavarapalli Dam with a millstone tied to Shivamurthy's body. Police reported that the three men were nabbed when they were returning to Tirupur. The case was investigated at Tirupur Principal Sessions Court. A total of 40 witnesses were questioned. The trial finally came to an end and the verdict was pronounced on Friday, October 8.
All four men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Shivamurthy. They were also sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy, 10 years for a kidnapping crime, 3 years for attempting to destroy evidence as well as being fined. Justice Swarnam Natarajan ordered all sentences to be served simultaneously.
Shivamurthy was the owner of a Baniyan export company in Tirupur. He is survived by wife Durga Vaishnavi, a 3-year old daughter and a son who is 18 months. Shivamurthy is the son-in-law of Padmini, the younger sister of the wife of former Union Minister, P Chidambaram.