5 more witnesses turn hostile in Sankararaman murder case

Five more prosecution witnesses turned hostile today during the trial in the Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and junior acharya Vijayendra Saraswathi are the main accused.

Of the 24 accused, only six were present during the hearing before the principal and district sessions judge K Ramalingam and the absentees included the two seers.

Out of the seven witnesses examined, special public prosecutor N Devadoss declared five of them as hostile when he found they contradicted the statements they had made earlier before the police in Kancheepuram.

The judge adjourned the hearing to February 7 and stated it would be held for three days in a row from that date.

Around 30 witnesses would be examined in the next hearing.

Of the 137 witnesses examined since the commencement of the trial some two years ago, 72 have turned hostile.

The trial was shifted to Puducherry from Chengalpattu district court following a Supreme Court's order in October 2005 on a petition filed by Jayendra Saraswathi.

Sankararaman, manager of the Varadararjaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on the premises of the temple on September 3, 2004.