In Kerala after two years rammed Hummer into guard, beedi tycoon gets life term

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On Thursday a court in Thrissur sentenced beedi tycoon Muhammad Nisham to rigorous life imprisonment and another 24 years in jail for causing the death of a security guard with his Hummer at the Sobha City apartments last year. The 39-year-old businessman, reportedly with assets worth Rs 5,000 crore, will also have to pay a fine of Rs 80.30 lakh of which Rs 50 lakh is to be paid to the widow of the victim, K Chandrabose.
Quoting the verdict of judge K P Sudheer, special public prosecutor C P Udayabhanu said the life term served for murder and 24 years of jail term for other six offences would run consecutively. The appellate courts have to uphold the quantum of punishment. Nisham was convicted under sections of 302, 326, 323, 324,427,449 and 506(1) of IPC. The court also asked the prosecution to initiate criminal procedures against Nisham’s wife Amal on charges of perjury. Amal, who had been a prosecution witness, had earlier given a statement to the magistrate that she had seen injured Chandrabose in the Hummer SUV of her husband. Later, during the trial, Amal turned hostile.
Reacting to the verdict, Chadrabose’s wife Jamanthi said the culprit should have been hanged. “We did not get justice. We are not enthused to hear about the compensation ordered to be paid to us. It was not an accident. He ran the vehicle into my husband. When he tried to escape, Nisham crushed him against a concrete wall using his vehicle. We are not satisfied by the verdict,’’ said Jamanthi, who was given the job of a lower division typist with a public sector firm in Thrissur after Chandrabose’s death.