The Principal District and Sessions Judge, P. Velmurugan, on Tuesday convicted and sentenced an auto driver to undergo life imprisonment for murdering a retired sub inspector in K.K. Nagar area here in March 2010.
Delivering the verdict, the Judge imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 on the auto driver S. Sivakumar of Khajamalai.
The retired Sub Inspector Joseph Jayaraj (75) was found dead in an open place near LIC colony in K.K. Nagar area. The K.K. Nagar police which initially registered a case under suspicious death subsequently altered it as a case of murder for gain and arrested Sivakumar a few days after the murder took place.
During investigation, it came to light that the auto driver had strangulated the retired Sub Inspector to death in an inebriated condition after the latter refused to lend him money to clear the dues for the auto-rickshaw.
The auto driver took away gold chain weighing five sovereigns from the retired police officer after murdering him.