Thiruvananthapuram:
A fast track court in Thiruvananthapuram today found five persons, including three engineering students, guilty of murdering a gem dealer in December 2012.
The court, however, acquitted the sixth accused Haridas, who was also an acquaintance of the dealer Harihara Varma.
Those found guilty are Rakhil, Ragesh and Joseph, engineering students M Jithesh and Ajeesh. The court will announce their quantum of sentence tomorrow.
The case pertains to the alleged murder of Harihara Varma (59), a member of one of the erstwhile royal family of the state, for the precious stones he possessed.
He was smothered to death by the accused using chloroform in the house owned by his friend Haridas' daughter, situated near Puthoorkonam, on December 24, 2012.
The prosecution's case was that the accused approached Varma under the guise of buying gemstones and escaped with the stones after murdering him.