Saturday, February 5 2005 11:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kancheepuram: Appu, a key accused in the Sankararaman murder case and co-accused 'Dil' Pandian were today (Feb 5, 2005) detained under the Goondas Act, police said.

Appu, charged with organising the September 3 murder of Sankararaman, surrendered before Tamil Nadu police in Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh on December 19 last. He has been listed as Accused No 5 in the chargesheet.

'Dil' Pandian, who surrendered before a Chennai court on October 27, has been accused of making a fake surrender in the case. Both are already under judicial custody.

With the detention of these two, the total number of accused detained under the Goondas Act in the case has risen to 12.

R Raghu, brother of junior Kanchi Pontiff Vijayendra Saraswathi, and Mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer are among those detained under the Act in the case.

The Goondas Act is normally evoked against habitual offenders and those detained are not entitled for bail for one year.