The copies of the charge sheet in the Sankararaman murder case were on Thursday handed over to all the accused, including Kamahi seers Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati, by a Kanchipuram court.

Judicial Magistrate G Uthamaraj also furnished a copy of the document to the accused-turned-approver Ravi Subramaniam.

The seers were the first two to receive the copies.

The Shankaracharya Saga

The charge sheet, running to 1,873 pages, was filed by superintendent of police K Premkumar on January 21.

The court proceedings were delayed as Appu, an accused in the murder, arrived late from Cuddalore prison.

Jayendra Saraswati came from Kalavai, where he has been staying since his release on bail on January 11, at around 1030 am.

Eighteen of the accused, lodged in Chennai Central Prison, were brought by police in the morning.

Raghu, the brother of Vijayendra Saraswati and an accused in the Sankararaman murder case, broke down in court when he saw his brother and senior pontiff Jayendra Saraswati.

Raghu and Sunderesa Iyer are among the 16 accused detained under the Goondas Act in the murder case.

Each one of the accused in the case did their best in pursuance of the conspiracy to eliminate Sankararaman, the charge sheet said.

Describing the murder as 'brutal and cold-blooded', the charge sheet said Jayendra Saraswati and
Vijayendra Saraswati were 'infuriated' over the letters written by Sankararaman questioning the manner in which the Kanchi mutt was being administered by them.

The pontiffs bore an animosity towards Sankararaman, as his letters had attacked their character and conduct, to such an extent that they annihilated him, the charge sheet said.

It said the seer and his junior had met the other accused, including accused-turned-approver Ravi Subramaniam, on several occasions at Chennai and Kanchipuram prior to the murder.

Following Sankararaman's final notice to Jayendra and Vijayendra threatening them of serious consequences, a decision was taken on September one, 2004, to eliminate the temple official.

The charge sheet said a confession by Jayendra Saraswati, the 'prime accused and the main instrument in causing the death of Sankararaman', on November 21 while in police custody, led to the recovery of four letters written by the deceased under the name of  Somesekaraganapadigal, it said.