Death sentence for Karthik Raj killer

Judge S.M. Shembole of the Sessions Court here awarded death sentence to prime accused Santosh Kumar Bariyar and life imprisonment to Sanjeev Roy and Santosh Roy, while the fourth accused, Kumar Gaurav, who had become an approver, was let off.

Delivering the judgement, Shembole said: ‘‘Considering the evidence and facts, the accused, Santosh Bariyar, is liable for death sentence while the accused Santosh Roy and Sanjeev Roy are liable for life imprisonment.”

The court said that it was awarding death sentence to Bariyar because he was the mastermind who had motivated the other two to commit the crime.

The accused had lured the tennis player to a particular place on the pretext of inviting him to a party to celebrate the marriage of Bariyar. Later, when Raj reached the place, they kidnapped him, tortured him for two hours and murdered him on August 8, 2001, police said.