Sankararaman murder case: Seers acquitted, 83 witnesses turn hostile

Puducherry, Nov 27: A Puducherry court on Wednesday acquitted

Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and 22 others in the 2004 murder of a Kancheepuram temple employee Sankararaman.

83 witnesses in the case turned hostile, said sources. The prosecution had apparently failed to prove the motive of the murder.

Sankararaman, the manager of the Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, was allegedly killed on September 3, 2004, in the temple premises, by a gang.

83 witnesses turned hostile in the case

The senior seer and another pontiff Vijayendra, were among six people charged with his murder. Manager of Kanchi mutt and seer's brother were also charged with the crime.

In 2005, another accused in the case was found murdered. The case had evoked nation wide protests.

The trial was initially in a Chengalpet court in Tamil Nadu, but later shifted to Puducherry by the Supreme Court in 2005, based on a plea by Jayendra. The seer alleged that the accused would not get a free and fair trial in Tamil Nadu.

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Oneindia News

(With agency inputs)