HC upholds life sentence to five in taxi driver's murder

The Madras High Court has upheld the life sentence awarded by a Sessions Court in Coimbatore to five persons for murdering a taxi driver after abducting him and burying his body in Pollachi in 2007.
A division bench comprising justices S Nagamuthu and V Bharathidasan confirmed the life sentence yesterday on the criminal appeals filed by the accused John Anthonisamy, Muthumanickam, R Ganesh Kumar, Raheshkumar and S Kaleeswaran.
The prosecution has proved that it was these five accused who abducted John Thomas, a taxi driver from Pollachi to Mullupadi village, killed him, buried the body and then stole the car and other properties in it, the judges said.

"The trial court was thus right in convicting all these five accused. We do not find any perversity in the judgement of the trial court warranting interference at the hands of this Court", the court said.
According to prosecution, the driver John Thomas went from his house after he received a telephone phone call from Anthonisamy regarding a trip on July 18, 2007.
As Thomas did not return home even after a week, his wife and owner of the taxi Jegan lodged a police complaint.

A breakthrough in the case was made after Karthikeyan, who sold the car to Jegan, received a letter on December 29 written by Antonisamy "confessing" that he along with four others had abducted John, killed him and buried the body.

He also confessed that they did the crime for gains, following which all the five were arrested.
The Sessions Court sentenced all the five to life imprisonment.
The Division Bench which confirmed the conviction and sentence of the accused in their order said "the quantum of punishment imposed by the trial court also cannot be stated to be disproportionate.