Salem case: Ex-ministers kin, 7 charge sheeted

SALEM: Eight-and-half months after the CB-CID filed charge sheet in the sensational land grab murder of six in a family of the retired police inspector Kuppuraj, the Judicial Magitrate Court no 4 here issued the copies of the chargesheet to eight of the accused.Those severed with the chargesheet include K Suresh Kumar, the Vice Chairman of Salem District Panchayat and nephew of the former minister for agriculture Veerapandi S Arumugam. The court spared the juvenile accused S Gokul, son of Sivaguru and grandson of the slain retired inspector Kuppuraj, as he is already being tried in the juvenile court and is presently lodged in the observatory home for juveniles.The CB-CID filed the charge sheet in the sensational August 11, 2010 murder of six in a family on November 16 after it began investigations into the case on August 24. Nine persons were framed as accused. The charge sheet was issued to eight persons including K Suresh Kumar, Kuppuraj’s son, Sivaguru, his wife S Mala their daughter S Yuvapriya, a DMK lawyer Sekar, Sivaguru’ son-in-law Rajini, an Armed reserve police constable and others. All the nine were arrested. Suresh Kumar is now on bail.The CB-CID took over the investigation from the Salem District Police on August 19 with pressure from the victims’ kin and the public. The CB-CID arrested Suresh Kumar on October 20. The investigations gained momentum with five more arrests.