Actor's murder: HC awards life term to realtor Murthy

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday awarded life sentence to realtor Govardhana Murthy in the sensational murder of actor Vinod Kumar in 2008.

A division bench of Justices S N Sathyanarayana and H P Sandesh, while allowing a criminal revision petition filed by the prosecution (Bagalur police), convicted Murthy for the offence and slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him. Out of the sum, Rs 4.50 lakh shall be paid to the mother of the deceased.

An inebriated Murthy was accused of opening fire on Vinod Kumar on October 7, 2008, during dinner. Vinod, who was injured in the incident, died at the hospital. The Bagalur police had filed a charge sheet.

The trial court acquitted Murthy in 2012. The Bagalur police had filed a revision petition challenging the trial court judgment. Public prosecutor V M Sheelavanth had represented the prosecution.

In the 237-page judgment, the division bench said that the prosecution had provided circumstantial and appropriate evidence to establish that Murthy committed the offence. It observed that the trial court had not considered the statements of two eyewitnesses.

The accused was absconding for 15 days after the incident and this conduct of him also corroborated his complicity in the crime. In his dying declaration, Vinod had stated that Murthy opened fire on him, the bench noted.

The court directed Bagalur police to arrest Murthy immediately. The trial court should complete all the legal formalities and send the convict to the jail, the order stated.