The CBI special court here today sentenced V V Hamsa, the first accused in the sensational murder of Chekanoor Maualvi, to undergo double life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. one lakh.
Maulavi, a progressive Islamic cleric, was abducted on July 29, 1993 from his home at Edapal in Malappuram district and later killed.
Stating that the maulavi case was a rarest of rare case, the prosecution had demanded death sentence.
Pronouncing the verdict, Special court judge S Vijaykumar said, of the fine amount, Rs. 50,000 should be given to the Maulavi’s wife.
Hamsa had been found guilty by the court yesterday, while remaining 8 accused were acquitted.
Despite earnest efforts by the local police and later by CBI which investigated the case, the body of the maulavi was never recovered.
‘In the present day world of personal grudge, religious rivalries and physical violence, criminals seek to achieve a stage of being wiser than our criminal law. That cannot be allowed at any rate in a developed criminal legal system as ours’, the court had observed yesterday.
The court found that after killing Maulavi, his dead body was disposed off in some mysterious manner so as never to be recovered.
