Life term for key accused

KOTTAYAM:The District and Sessions Court here on Friday sentenced Unnikrishnan, the key accused in the murder of his brother Kadayannikkad Gopakumar, of Manimala,  to life imprisonment. Thundiyil Binuraj, of Ranni, another accused, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.Delivering the verdict, Judge K P Prasanna Kumari imposed a fine of Rs 1,25,500 on Unnikrishnan and Rs 25,000 on Binuraj. If the accused fail to pay the fine, they will have to undergo one more year’s imprisonment.Unnikrishnan was found guilty under Sections 302, 201, 447, 341 of the IPC. All the sentences for Unnikrishnan under  different sections will run concurrently. The court rejected the prosecution’s plea to give capital punishment to the accused. The court had on Wednesday found the two guilty of murdering Gopakumar. The murder was over an issue related to the partition of their ancestral property. Biju,41, the third accused and a relative of the deceased, were absolved of charges for lack of evidence.The incident took place on November 30, 2007. The turning point of the case was the statement given by Gopinatha Pillai, father of Gopakumar and Unnikrishnan.Meanwhile, public prosecutor R Vikraman Nair said the prosecution would move the High Court against the lighter punishment imposed on Thundiyil Binuraj and absolving the third accused Biju of all charges.