Mangaluru: The fifth additional district and sessions court has sentenced two men to life imprisonment and fined them Rs 3 lakh each for the murder of activist Karthik Merla at Sampya in Puttur taluk in 2019.The court sentenced Preethu alias Preethesh Sulaya and Kiran alias Mani to life imprisonment under Section 302 of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh each. They were also sentenced to three months’ simple imprisonment and fined Rs 500 each under Section 341 of the IPC.Karthik was murdered at Sampya, under the jurisdiction of Puttur Rural police station, on Sept 3, 2019. Puttur Rural police had registered a case under sections 504, 341, 302 and 212 of the IPC.The then investigating officer and police inspector Nagesh Kadri conducted the investigation, collected evidence and filed a chargesheet against Preethu alias Preethesh Sulaya, Charan, Kiran alias Mani and Santhu alias Steven Montero.Following the trial, judge Sadananda Naik found Preethu and Kiran guilty and convicted them under relevant sections. The court acquitted Santhu alias Steven Montero for want of evidence. Another accused, Charan, had passed away earlier. Public prosecutor K Jayanthi represented the prosecution before the court.
