Ernakulam businessman Majeendran murder causes flash flood of public outrage in Kerala

Murdered businessman MajeendranThe fall of the Kerala government was not the only talking point in the state recently - the murder of Majeendran, 32, a popular businessman of Ernakulam, who rose from rags to riches, amassed through a transport company and film production, caused a flash flood of public outrage in Kerala.On the morning of October 9 a dark and lanky young man knocked on Majeendran's door. It was only after much persistence that Majeendran, who had just woken up, came to see his early caller. As soon as he appeared in the doorway, a shot rang out and Majeendran collapsed with a bullet in the chest.Although he was rushed to the hospital, the businessman died soon after, not, however, before whispering something to his business partner Venu; Majeendran was reported to have named his killer in his dying declaration - "a hit man who was hired by Anandan of Layam Road". Meanwhile, his assailant had been chased by a milk vendor but easily gave his pursuers the slip, vanishing into the crowds near the Ernakulam railway station.Ballistics expert Vishnu Potti, assistant director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, identified the bullet lodged in Majeendran's chest as being of 32 calibre and fired from a foreign-made revolver. According to Potti, the bullet had first hit the door before knocking down Majeendran, and if medical aid had got to the wounded man in time he might have been saved. The real clue that allowed the police to crack the case was Majeendran's last statement. Anandan turned out to be Sadanandan, the nephew of wealthy businessman Ramakrishnan of the Elite Group of industries, and part of a powerful Kerala family which had, moreover, solid political connections.Slow Investigation: Inevitably, as time went on and no suspect was hauled in, rumours of behind-the-scenes string-pulling became rampant. When the police visited the sumptuous house on Layam Road. Sadanandan had vanished. Accused SadanandanCynics pointed out that the police appeared to speed things up only after the fall of the ministry, and, sure enough, five days after Kerala politics reached its climax, Sadanandan was nabbed in a five-star Madras hotel by a police party. The police seemed to have the whole affair neatly sewed up when the suspect confessed, and, according to Ernakulam City Police Commissioner R. S. Musha Hari, who was in charge of the investigation, admitted that he had engaged Rajan, one of his employees, to do away with Majeendran.The motive, according to what Sadanandan said, appears to be jealousy. Ramakrishnan had started patronising Majeendran, even financing his hit filmSambavam. Sadanandan, already the recipient of much largesse from his uncle in the form of the Layam Road bungalow and arrack bottling plants in Vellore, did not like his uncle's generosity towards the film producer. So he had given Rajan his own .32 pistol and asked him to take care of Majeendran.Ernakulam is agog with rumours that Majeendran was involved with a woman close to Sadanandan. In fact, the dead man had the reputation of being a Casanova of sorts - his widow Omana, 13 years older than Majeendran, had deserted her husband and five children for him. But even as the police are trying to establish all the facts in the sensational case, Rajan is still at large.Meanwhile, Sadanandan, reportedly treated royally in custody, has retained Kerala's leading criminal lawyer K.N. Sukumaran Nair. Says Nair: "I will be fighting one of my toughest cases. But wait and see: I will turn the tables." He has been assured of a packed court when the case comes up for hearing this fortnight.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 25, 2013 13:01 IST--- ENDS ---

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Ernakulam businessman Majeendran murder causes flash flood of public outrage in Kerala

The murder of Majeendran, 32, a popular businessman of Ernakulam, who rose from rags to riches, amassed through a transport company and film production, caused a flash flood of public outrage in Kerala.

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