LUCKNOW: UP's first reported cannibal who allegedly killed people to savour their 'brains' was awarded life imprisonment by the sessions court on Friday after finding him guilty of murdering a scribe of a Hindi daily 'Aaj'.

Ram Niranjan alias Raja Kolandar, and his brother-in-law Vaksharaj were found guilty by additional sessions judge (II) Mehtab Ahmad in a 12 year-old murder case. During investigations police found that Kolandar not only killed the scribe, Dhirendra Singh , but also was involved in 14 other brutal murders. Police found that he used to kill people on petty issues, dismember their bodies and throw the body parts in lakes, rivers and forest. However, in most cases he kept the head to 'eat the brain' and later hang the skulls as a trophy in his house.

The matter came to light in on December 18, 2000 when police caught Kolandar and Vaksharaj on charges of killing Dhirendra Singh. The latter went missing on December 14, 2000. When he failed to return home, his family members lodged an FIR at Kydganj police station on December 17, 2000. The police scanned the call details of Dhirendra's mobile and found that a call was made to one Phoolan Devi, a resident of Cheoki on December 16, 2000. Phoolan was detained and during sustained interrogation narrated 'the truth' about Kolandar.

Later, Kolandar and Vaksharaj were arrested a stolen Tata Sumo vehicle was recovered from them. During interrogation, Raja Kolandar confessed to his involvement in the murder of Dhirendra whom he killed along with Vaksharaj on December 17, 2000, and thrown the body and head at some place on Allahabad-Rewa road. He killed Dhirendra due to rivalry between the two during the panchayat polls in which Kolandar's wife Phoolan had emerged victorious. Apart from Dhirendra's body, the police also recovered 14 skulls from his house.

The incident sent shock waves in the state. It was revealed that Kolandar first victim was a colleague at the ordinance factory he used to work. After arrest, Kolandar told police that he killed the colleague and ate his brain only because the he belonged to a community considered to be having sharp brain. He also confessed that he killed three persons in a taxi when they refused to give him lift to Lucknow from Allahabad. Kolandar, said police, considered himself 'a king and 'a judge' and named his two sons as Adalat (court) and Jamanat (bail).

In Dhirendra case, on Kolandar's information, police recovered some dismembered body parts of the scribe from a lake at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. He had also told the police that he killed Dhirendra apprehending that the latter would publish news report against him. The chargesheet was filed in February 2001 but the case dragged for 11 years as the prosecution struggled to get witnesses ready to depose. The murder cases related to the murder of 14 other victims are also going on against Kolandar in courts in different parts of the state.

Kolandar and Vaksharaj are in jail since their arrest in December 2000. Apart from awarding life sentence, the judge has also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each on the two accused under Section 302 of IPC. Besides, the two accused were also sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment under Section 201 of IPC and a fine of Rs 5000 each has been imposed on them. An additional sentence of one year rigorous imprisonment under Section 404 of IPC has also been awarded by the court to the accused along with a fine of Rs 1000 each.

Dhirendra's family members, however, are not satisfied with the verdict and have decided to approach the high court seeking capital punishment. Rahul, Dhirendra's son, who was one-and-a-half-year-old at the time of his father's killing, said that he was not happy with the judgement. On the other hand, Kolandar is said to be planning to challenge the judgement in the high court. The judgement, however, has also refreshed the memories of Nithari killings in which one Surendar Kol has been awarded death sentence for killing eight children.

