30 October 2004 :

A Fast Track Court in India sentenced to death Joy alias Thomas, 41 and Chacko alias James, 38, for murdering a jeep driver in order to steal his vehicle. According to prosecution, Thomas and James, hired the jeep under the guise of making a trip from nearby Ambalavayal on October 15, 1995. However, along with two other accused, Prabhakaran, 44, and Baby, 39, they strangled the jeep driver, Manoj Kumar, 22. The accused fled in the same vehicle after disposing of the body near a river, the prosecution said. While three of them were arrested soon after the incident, Baby was still on the run. A retrial had been ordered in the case of Prabhakaran, who was rearrested in September after he jumped bail.