The District and Sessions Court in Karur on Monday convicted and sentenced three accused to undergo double life imprisonment for murdering an activist R. Jaganathan, who fought against illegal stone quarries, in the district in September 2022. 

The court also imposed a penalty amount of ₹2 lakh each on the convicted persons - Sakthivel, Selvakumar and Ranjith Kumar after holding them guilty of murder.  Jaganathan, who resided at Kalipalayam in Pugalur taluk in Karur district, had been demanding the closure of illegal stone quarries in the district and had petitioned the officials multiple times in this regard.

The activist was riding a two-wheeler when he was deliberately mowed down, fatally, by a truck, belonging to a quarry, at Kuppam near K. Paramathi. The murder was committed a day after a quarry near Kalipalayam where Jaganathan resided was closed by the Department of Geology and Mining on complaints that it was being operated illegally.

The K. Paramathi police had booked a case of murder acting on a complaint lodged by the victim’s wife Revathy and arrested Selvakumar- the quarry owner, Sakthivel - the lorry driver and Ranjith Kumar.  Following the verdict, the three convicted persons were lodged in the Central Prison at Tiruchi.