Lankan murder case in Doha:

Death penalty commuted

A Doha Appeals Court on Monday commuted, to 10-year imprisonment, the death penalty given in a Lower Court to four Sri Lankans for their involvement in a compatriot's murder. However, the capital punishment given to the mastermind in absentia was upheld. Sources said that four men were arrested immediately after the murder. He was the 'mastermind' of the operation and sources said that he came to Qatar for few days only to perpetrate the crime.

Diplomatic sources said the mother of the victim forfeited the blood money or punishment and that contributed to the commutation of the penalty.

Qatari authorities believe the murder of Sri Lankan Tamil Manokaran, 25, was a case of 'political assassination' as he was a former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and later probably a member of its rebel faction.

Manokaran, 25, a native of Eravur, succumbed to his wounds seven days after he was attacked at his labour camp on Street 49 in the Industrial Area.

The charge-sheet said the main suspect supplied his accomplices with iron bars and face masks to carry out the crime.

The fifth suspect, who lived, in the next room, supplied the group with information about the victim's movements while the third stood guard outside his room.

"The first, second and fourth accused sneaked into Manokaran's room and repeatedly hit him on his head with an iron rod," the charge-sheet said.

A police officer testified that the suspects failed to kill Manokaran outside his accommodation, so they decided to murder him inside his room.

"On the day of the incident, the unidentified suspect was monitoring the stairs to ensure that no one was around, while another one stood in the corridor. The others went inside the victim's room and hit him many times on his head while he was sleeping," the officer told the prosecution.

"Though two of his roommates woke up after the victim started to scream, they were forced to remain silent as the attackers threatened them," the witness said.

"The attackers stopped the assault only after they thought that the victim was dead," he said.

Iron bars, two gloves and two face masks were found in the car of the fourth suspect. The police dog, which sniffed the bars, led the investigating officials to the second suspect.

A Sri Lankan roommate of Manokaran, who was summoned as a witness, said that he saw three men, two of them near the victim's bed and the third standing near his bed.

"I saw a man hitting the victim on his head with an iron bar. They threatened to kill me if I opened my mouth. They told me that they belonged to the Tigers and I knew they would not hesitate to kill their detractors," he said. Gulf Times