MANGALURU: The first additional district and sessions' court sentenced a bus conductor-turned realtor from Kannur to life imprisonment , finding him guilty of murder of a 70-year-old woman in a lodge in the city three years ago. The accused Eali Kutty , 70 from Pallikavala near Ernakulam came to the city in a train from Kannur for treatment on January 14, 2014. K Ravindran, 61, whom she knew, for she was a frequent traveler in his private bus, accompanied her.The duo checked into the room of Navaratna Deluxe lodge . In the night, the accused Ravindran laced her wine with sedative tablets and ensured she consumed it. Early on January 15, Ravindran smothered a drowsy Eali Kutty with a pillow in the room and left it soon thereafter with her gold ornaments. The lodge staff broke open the door of the room three-days later only to find her body on the cot, a charge sheet filed by the jurisdictional police stated.Cheluvaraj B, then police inspector of Mangaluru North police station tracked Ravindran in his hometown Patuvam on January 23. He was charged under sections 302, 394 and 201 of IPC. Ravindran during the trial maintained that Eali Kutty's death was natural. Prosecutor Raju Poojary B produced evidence of 19 witnesses that included supervisor of hotel next to the lodge where Ravindran had enquired for a room before coming to the lodge. A room boy in the lodge too was a witness.The case was not one without a twist. While the doctor, who conducted the autopsy said the cause of death could not be ascertained, Sujatha, scientific officer from regional forensic science laboratory said no traces of toxin was found in the victim's viscera. Sujatha added chances of toxin not getting detected when body starts to decompose too is true. Based on circumstantial evidence, Judge C M Joshi sentenced Ravindran to life and also imposed fine of Rs. 5,000.He will undergo further imprisonment of three months if he fails to pay the fine amount. The Judge who offset Ravindran's period of custodial detention during the trial, that is, from January 23, 2014 till date, however acquitted him of offences under sections 394 and 201.

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