Lakshmikanthan Murder Case

The Lakshmikanthan murder case (Tamil: லக்ஷ்மிகாந்தன் கொலை வழக்கு) was a high-profile criminal trial which was conducted in the then Madras Presidency between November 1944 and April 1947. The cause of the trial was the murder of C. N. Lakshmikanthan, a Tamil film journalist. Lakshmikanthan was stabbed in Vepery, Madras on November 7, 1944 and he died the next morning in General Hospital, Madras. A criminal case was filed and a series of suspects were arrested. The suspects included Tamil film actors M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan and director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. While Sreeramulu Naidu was acquitted, Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and Krishnan were found guilty and subsequently convicted. Bhagavathar and Krishnan appealed to the Madras High Court but their appeals were turned down. The duo remained in jail until 1947, when an appeal to the Privy Council was successful and the Council directed the sessions court to make a fresh retrial. Both Bhagavathar and Krishnan were found to be innocent and acquitted. The case remains unsolved to the present day and the actual perpetuators of the murder were never found.

The arrest completely broke Bhagavathar's morale. He lost all his money and died in 1959 in penury. Krishnan, however, did a few movies till his death and some of them were successful.