S. Dharmarajan, the third accused in the Suryanelli rape case who was arrested by Kerala Police from Sagar city in Shimoga district in Karnataka on Friday, was produced before the Suryanelli Special Court here on Saturday.
Dharmarajan was brought to the court at 11.05 a.m. under heavy police security. Earlier in the day, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that nabbed him completed the formality of a health check-up on the convict at the Government Hospital, Mulanthuruthy, on the way to Kottayam before producing him before Special Court judge S Shajahan.
Dharmarajan was remanded to prison and sent to Kottayam sub-jail from where he was taken to the Poojappura Central Jail in the afternoon.
However, he did not respond to any queries by mediapersons who had thronged the Court premises.
Dharmarajan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special Court in 2002, had got his punishment reduced to five years in the 2005 High Court judgment. Following this, he had secured bail for seeking appeal. But he jumped bail and went absconding. With the annulment of the 2005 High Court judgment by the apex court, Dharmarajan is at present bound by the Special Court verdict of 2002 (life imprisonment) and not eligible for bail.
The arrest of Dharmarajan, who had been absconding for over seven years, comes in the wake of his TV channel ‘revelation’ from his hideout in Karnataka regarding the involvement of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien in the Suryanelli sex scandal.
The warrants issued by the Special Court so far had returned. A fresh warrant was issued on February 12 following which the four-member SIT was constituted under the direct leadership of the district police chief.
