The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday upheld the conviction and life imprisonment imposed on Mantelingaiah, Akhila Janajagruti Mahasabha (AJMS) leader from Mysuru, and nine others in the AJMS activist Gangamma murder case of 2005.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Justice Budihal R.B. passed the order, while dismissing the appeal filed by several convicts, who had questioned the 2011 verdict of the Mysuru trial court.
The Bench, however, reduced the life sentence imposed by the trial court on five other convicts to five years. Five more convicts, including Mantelingaiah’s wife Vikashini, were acquitted for lack of evidence. The police had filed charge sheet against 25 persons. The 10 accused, who were sentenced to life, are Mantelingaiah, Chandramma, Bhagyamma, Shivashetty, Gangothri Mahadeva, Nanja, Andanaiah, H.K. Putta, Madhubala, and Nagaraju. Gangamma (60), a resident of Lakshmikanth Nagar, near Hebbal in Mysuru, was kidnapped at the behest of Mantelingaiah on November 17, 2005. After murdering her, the convicts had thrown her body into the Kapila. They killed her because she went to the press and exposed the “extortion” racket and other misdeeds of Mantelingaiah.
