Nine awarded life imprisonment in businessman murder case

A special CBI court here today sentenced nine persons to life imprisonment in the murder of Muthoot business group scion Paul Muthoot George, six years after the gruesome killing.
The court said the prosecution had succeeded in proving the charges against them, including murder, unlawful assembling and destruction of evidence.
Judge R Raghu, who pronounced the verdict, also observed that nine convicts had direct links to the murder, which occurred in 2009 while four others were sentenced to three years imprisonment. The 14th accused was acquitted.
The special court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on the first convict Jayachandran and Rs 55,000 each on the next seven convicts.

George, who was Executive Director of Kerala-based Muthoot M George group, which has interests in several areas, including financing and hospitality industry, was murdered by a gang in a road-rage incident at a deserted place near coastal town of Alapuzha.
The Kerala High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the case next year on a petition filed by Paul's father and Muthoot business group Chairman M G George.