A special CBI court here has found 13 accused guilty in the sensational murder of Paul George Muthoot, scion of the Muthoot Group, six years ago.
The detailed verdict specifying the quantum of punishment to the accused is to be delivered shortly after noon. They have been slapped with murder charge.
Paul was found stabbed to death by the wayside in the small hours of August 21, 2009, in Alappuzha district.
The police account is that he was murdered by a group of hired killers while on his way to a resort.
MURDER CHARGE
The court observed that nine persons, including the first accused Jayachandran and second accused ‘Kaari’ Satheesh, are directly linked to the murder.
The rest three helped in destroying the evidence, the bench said, agreeing mostly with the findings of the CBI. One was acquitted.
Paul was the second son of MG George Muthoot, chairman of the Muthoot Group, whose flagship Muthoot Finance is India’s leading lender against gold.
It has more than 4,400 branches, serves six million customers and owns one of the country’s largest private holdings of gold of 120 tonnes, according to a Forbes report last year.
Paul was an executive director of the diversified Muthoot Group and headed the hospitality business at the time of his death.