Two more witnesses turn hostile in Sankararaman murder case

Two of the six witnesses on trial in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the main accused, turned hostile today. With this, four witnesses have so far turned hostile in the case.

Sankararaman, the Manager of Sri Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered in the temple premises on September 3, 2004.

Only 14 of the 24 accused were present in court when the case came up for hearing today before Principal and District Sessions Judge D Krishnaraja. The two Seers were among those absent. They have been charged under sections 120(B)(conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of IPC.
  
The two witnesses, employees of a shop near the temple told Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss that they had not seen the accused who had fled the scene after the crime.

Bhaskaran said he was not on duty on Sept 3 afternoon. He claimed to have signed only blank papers and denied having told police that he had seen three men rushing out of the temple with sharp weapons.

Natarajan said he had only heard people speaking of someone having been murdered in the temple and that he had not seen any photos on the blank papers he signed.

Following this, the SPP declared both of them hostile. Devadoss later told reporters that 10 more witnesses would be examined tomorrow.