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Dharmapuri bus burning case: Convicted AIADMK members out of jail after Governor accepts state’s pre-release request

Nedunchezhiyan (aka Nedu), Ravindran (aka Madhu) and Muniyappan were awarded capital punishment by the trial court in February 2007. They submitted a review petition to Supreme Court and in 2016, the apex court reduced their punishment to life imprisonment.

Dharmapuri bus burning case, dharmapuri bus fire case, AIADMK members convicted, life imprisonment, early release, palaniswami, tamil nadu government, tamil nadu governor, tamil nadu news, indian express

Three students of Tamil Nadu Government Agricultural University were burnt alive inside a college bus in Elakkiampatti near Dharmapuri district. (Representational image)

Three AIADMK members, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Dharmapuri college bus fire case, were released from Vellore Jail Monday after Tamil Nadu Governor Bunwarilal Purohit accepted the state government’s pre-release recommendation.

In February 2000, the Supreme Court convicted J Jayalalithaa of corruption in Pleasant Stay Hotel case and sentenced her to one year’s rigorous imprisonment. The news agitated AIADMK members who launched a violent protest across Tamil Nadu. Three students of Tamil Nadu Government Agricultural University —Kokilavani, Hemalatha, and Gayathri— were burnt alive inside a college bus in Elakkiampatti near Dharmapuri district.

This violent incident led to the arrest of Nedunchezhiyan (aka Nedu), Ravindran (aka Madhu) and Muniyappan. They were awarded capital punishment by the trial court in February 2007.

The three submitted a review petition in the Supreme Court and, in 2016, the apex court reduced their punishment from death sentence to life imprisonment. Earlier this year, the Tamil Nadu government recommended the premature release of the three convicts following the 101st birth anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M G Ramachandran.

However, Governor Purohit returned the files to the state government asking to reconsider. But the Edappadi K Palanisamy led-Tamil Nadu Government reinitiated their request to release the convicts which was then accepted by the governor.

Janardhan Koushik

Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues. Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India. He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM. As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More

First uploaded on: 19-11-2018 at 16:31 IST

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