Kerala HC upholds life imprisonment of beedi tycoon for killing security guard

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment awarded to the beedi tycoon Mohammed Nisham, accused of killing a security guard in a fit of rage by ramming his luxury car in Kerala's Thrissur, back in January 2015.
"All appeals stand dismissed," said a Division Bench comprising Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice C Jayachandran while considering his appeal. Nisham was sentenced to life term by the Thrissur District Sessions Court in January 2016 after he was convicted under sections 302, 326, 323, 324, 427, 449 and 506(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case pertains to January 29, 2015, when Nisham was returning from a late-night party to his apartment in Thrissur in his Hummer SUV.
At that time, Chandrabose, a security guard was brutally attacked by Nisham over delay in opening the gate.
Chandrabose was first mowed down by Nisham. After ramming the security guard against a wall, he dumped Chandrabose at the back of the Hummer and drove to the parking area of the apartment complex, where he further beat Chandrabose with an iron rod.
Nisham further prevented others from taking the victim to the hospital.
Later, the police rushed Chandrabose to Amala Hospital in Thrissur where he succumbed to his injuries on February 16, 2015. Nisham was then charged with murder.
The trial court while pronouncing the sentence had asked him to pay damages worth Rs 80 lakh of which Rs 50 lakh were to be handed over to the family of Chandrabose.
Nisham is the managing director of a Tamil Nadu-based King Beedi Company.
Apart from being a prominent tobacco supplier, he had businesses ranging from a hotel in Dubai to jewellery businesses in the Middle East and Kerala (King's Jewellers in Triprayar, Thrissur) to the real-estate. He also owned a fleet of 18 imported cars, including Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Road Ranger, Ferrari and Jaguar.
Nisham had allegedly been involved in 11 cases. Being an undertrial in the murder case, Nisham was listed as a goon after the state police slapped relevant sections of the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA). (ANI)