Two more witnesses in the Kevin murder case in Kerala have turned hostile during proceedings held on Thursday. Both the witnesses turned against the claims of the prosecution.
Sulaiman and Allen denied their statements while being examined at the Principal Sessions Court in Kottayam, reports The Hindu.
Sulaiman is the neighbour of Nishad, the eighth accused in the case. Sulaiman had earlier given a statement that he had seen Nishad’s phone being recovered. However, Sulaiman denied the claim of prosecution regarding this on Thursday. Sulaiman is the 98th witness in the case.
Meanwhile, Allen, the 27th witness in the case who worked at a petrol pump in Nellipally near Punalur, denied that he had met the accused outside the fuel station, for plotting the crime.
With this, a total of five witnesses have turned hostile in the case. According to reports, Suneesh and Muneer, two other witnesses had denied the statements they made earlier regarding recovery of the mobile phones used by the accused. Abin Pradeep, a 20-year-old auto driver from Thenmala in Kollam, had also tuned hostile during proceedings last month.
Abin had denied the claims he made earlier that he had received information from the accused about Kevin and Anish’s abduction from Kottayam. He had told the court that he gave the earlier statement to police under pressure.
The prosecution earlier said that witnesses turning hostile would not impact the case.
Kevin, a 23-year-old man from Kottayam, was found dead in Challiyekkara river near Thenmala in May 2018. He was in love with 21-year-old Neenu and both of them had decided to get married though there was opposition from her family. Allegedly, it is Neenu’s father Chacko and brother Shanu Chakco, who masterminded Kevin’s abduction to make Neenu return home.
Kevin, along with his cousin Anish, were abducted by a 13-member gang from his house in Gandhi Nagar in Kottayam district. Though Anish managed to escape, Kevin was found dead a day later.