Author: TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 5, 2009
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4858266.cms
Two key prosecution witnesses in the Sankararaman
murder case on Tuesday contradicted their earlier statements, giving a new
twist to the sensational case in which the Kanchi Shankaracharyas - Jayendra
Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati - are main accused.
When questioned by defence counsel K S Dinakaran
before judge D Krishnaraja on Tuesday, Sankararaman's wife Padma and daughter
Uma Maitreyi said they had not seen anyone visiting their house on the day
of the murder.
The case pertains to the killing of A Sankararaman,
manager of the Sri Varadarajaswamy Temple in Kancheepuram, in the temple premises
on September 3, 2004.
The Kanchi seers were charged with criminal
conspiracy, misleading the court by giving false information, criminal trespass
and supply of funds to carry out the murder. They are accused of using hirelings
to eliminate Sankararaman, who had been engaged in a virulent propaganda against
Jayendra Saraswati and the activities of the Kanchi math.
