Bengaluru court hands life terms to 5 in 2011 murder case

Bengaluru: A city court has sentenced five men to life imprisonment for publicly hacking a man to death and injuring two others in Channakeshavanagar, Parappana Agrahara, in March 2011. They were each fined Rs 1.15 lakh.Basavaraju was hacked to death on the night of March 21, 2011, after a trivial fight at a local bar. His friends, Ashwath Narayan and Raju, were seriously injured. Police arrested six men based on their complaint. The convicted individuals are Kaddi Babu alias Babu, Chinnappa alias Chinni, Burugappa alias Buruga, Antony Swamy, and K Srinivas, all in their mid-40s. The sixth accused, Ramesh alias Andhra Ramesh, passed away during the trial. The five surviving accused, who had been out on bail, were taken into custody at Bengaluru Central Prison following the sentencing on Jan 20.Special public prosecutor B Venkat Rao told TOI that 13 witnesses were examined, with complainants' statements playing a key role. He said that the altercation at Gautam Bar on Hosur Road began when Basavaraju accidentally brushed against one of the accused. They then chased and hacked him and two others.Lifer for man who killed co-worker after drunken brawlSpeaking to TOI, then investigating officer VK Vasudev said the challenge was to prove the presence of the suspects at the crime scene. "Those days, there were no CCTVs like today. We had to reconsruct the crime scene, carry out spot mahazar and record the statements of two-eye witnesses, who were also the victims," Vasudev, presently working as Assistant Commissioner of Police-Madiwala sub division, said.