Batticaloa High Court Judge N. M M. Abdullah sentenced each of the two accused twice to the gallows and imprisonment for 32 years with hard labour yesterday (29), following the conclusion of a murder trial.
The two accused, Samila Rajendram, who worked as a police sergeant at the time, and Viveka Murthy, a member of the Eros Party, were sentenced to death and imprisonment as well as fines by the Batticaloa High Court.
In the year 1997, a dispute arose between a supporter and party secretary general Prabhakaran at the Eros party office on Govindan Road, Batticaloa.
The dispute subsequently escalated, and on the morning of July 17, 1997, the two accused entered the party office and assaulted Prabhakaran, who was the general secretary of the party.
At that time, the wife of the party general secretary, Prabhakaran, who was sleeping in the office, and three other members tried to flee the party office.
In the ensuing brawl, the two accused threw a bomb on the bed where the party’s general secretary, Prabhakaran, and his 3-year-old son were sleeping. Prabhakaran’s 3-year-old child, Kreman Krishan, and 31-year-old Chandra Kumar, a party member, lost their lives in the attack.
Following the bomb attack, the two accused inflicted grave injuries with a sword on Prabhakaran, his wife, and two other people. Prabhakaran and his wife were seriously injured, and a person named Yoganathan lost one hand while Kuriraj Sivam lost both hands.
The two accused were later arrested by the Batticaloa Police and brought to the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court. At the conclusion of the non-summary proceedings, the Attorney General filed an indictment against the two accused in the Batticaloa High Court in 2007 on six counts.
Accordingly, after a lengthy hearing, the State Counsel, Dr. Shehan Mustapa, who led the prosecution, succeeded in proving the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.
Accordingly, Batticaloa High Court Judge NMM Abdullah, who perused the evidence, sentenced the accused to death and also passed a sentence of rigorous imprisonment.
