Thiruvananthapuram: CBI Special Court on Tuesday convicted the second accused and family friend Muhammed Ali in the Andaman Student Syamal Mandal murder case. The Thiruvananthapuram CBI Court will pronounce the verdict on Wednesday in the murder case from 17 years ago. Ali was charged under IPC sections for criminal conspiracy, murder, kidnapping, and theft.
The first accused in the Andaman Student murder case, Bhipak alias Durga Bahadur Bhatt Cheri is still absconding. The trial was heard by Thiruvananthapuram CBI Special Court Judge K.Sanil Kumar. The murder of Syamal Mandal took place on October 13, 2005 in East Fort of Thiruvananthapuram.
Shyam Mandal, an Andaman native and a student at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET) was abducted and murdered for money. Shyamal received a phone call from someone claiming to be his junior, Alok Biswas from Navodaya School in the Andamans. Though Shyamal went to meet the person, he returned as the person on the other end asked for a private meeting.
Shyamal went missing a few days after that call. His friends lodged a complaint with Medical College Police as they did not see him for two days. Four days later, abductors called Shyamal's father Vasudev Mandal and demanded Rs 20 lakhs for his son's release. When the father didn't agree, the kidnappers asked for Rs 10 lakhs. However, the father informed the police and Shyamal's body was found in a sack near Thiruvalla bypass on October 23, 2005.
