Bangalore: Dandupalya gang members absolved of rape, robbery, murder charges
Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Mar 14: Six members of the notorious Dandupalya gang, who were facing charges of raping and robbing women in various parts of Karnataka, and killing them by slitting their throats, have escaped from the proverbial noose. These cases had been reported from Mysore, Tumkur, Bangalore, Hassan and Hubli.
File Photo
Krishna Venkatesh alias Chandra, Hanuma alias Dodda Hanuma, Venkatarama, Timma alias Koti Timma, Chikka, and Muniyappa had been awarded death sentence by the lower court. A division bench of the high court (HC), which has annulled verdict passed by the lower court, has absolved all these gang members of all the charges levelled against them.
In its judgement, the bench said that the accused have already spent 17 years in jail, and hence, ordered the concerned to release them immediately if their presence is no more required for interrogation, investigation, and or other purposes relating to any other cases.
These people had been charged with various offences as above, which had occurred between 1996 and 2000. The 34th special court situated at Parappana Agrahara Jail premises here had awarded death sentence to all of them. It had also recommended to the high court to confirm the death sentence.
The division bench of the high court comprising Justice K Bhaktavatsala and Justice K N Keshavanarayana found no substance or merit in the findings recorded in the judgement and absolved all the six persons of these charges. The bench found that the police have failed to provide direct evidences of rape, murder, robbery etc against these people. It said that the police had merely concluded that the accused had killed these women, based on the fact that gold ornaments were recovered from their possession.