| 2000 Dharmapuri bus burning | |
|---|---|
 The Hindu photo | |
| Location | Ilakiyampatti, Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Date | 2 February 2000 |
| Target | Tamil Nadu Agricultural University bus passengers |
Attack type | Arson, mass murder |
| Weapons | Petrol bomb |
| Deaths | 3 |
| Injured | 16 |
| Perpetrator | Muniappan, Nedunchezhian, Ravindran D.K. Rajendran and 24 other AIADMK members[1][2] |
| Motive | Protest against Jayalalithaa's conviction in the Pleasant Stay hotel case |
The Dharmapuri bus burning occurred on 2 February 2000 in Ilakiyampatti, on the outskirts of Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu, India. Three students from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (TNAU) were burned to death in a bus by AIADMK cadres after the conviction of Jayalaitha by a special court for the Kodaikanal Pleasant Stay Hotel case.[3][4]
The three men belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)—Muniappan, Nedunchezhian, and Ravindran—were sentenced to death, and their sentences were initially upheld by the Supreme Court of India. Their sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment, however, by a three-member bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi after a review petition. The Salem District Court had said that the crime was committed "only for the political career".[5] Although defense lawyer L. Nageswara Rao admitted that the three culprits took petrol from a workshop, set fire to the bus and killed the students, they were "in a state of mob frenzy"[6] and his defense was based on diminished responsibility.[7][8][9][10]
The Edappadi K. Palaniswami government advocated their release; the governor Banwarilal Purohit returned their files to the state government for reconsideration of their premature release and but it again sent to him and the three men all members of the ruling AIADMK were released from the Vellore Central Prison in November 2018.[11][4]
- ^ "TN bus burning case: SC commutes death sentence of 3 to life". The Times of India. 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ "28 AIADMK men convicted in bus burning case". DNA. 15 February 1007. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ "3 burnt alive". The Hindu. 3 February 2000. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Rajasekaran, Ilangovan (13 November 2019). "Premature release of all Melavalavu murder convicts sparks outrage in Tamil Nadu". Frontline. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ "Death for 3 AIADMK men in Dharmapuri bus burning case". The Hindu. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ S., Vijay Kumar (20 November 2018). "Dharmapuri bus burning case T.N governor explains why he agreed to set free life convicts". The Hindu.
- ^ Suchitra Vijayan (15 July 2016). "Wait, Murderous Bus-Burning AIADMK Members Were 'Victims' Of Mob-Think? The Apex Court Thinks So". Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ "Dharmapuri bus burning: SC commutes death sentence to life imprisonment". Business Standard. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ K M Vijayan (23 March 2016). "SC ruling on Dharmapuri bus burning a misinterpretation". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ "SC commutes death penalty of Dharmapuri bus burning convicts to life". The Hindu. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ Shanmughasundaram J (19 November 2018). "Dharmapuri bus burning case: Three life convicts released from Vellore Jail". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 November 2018.