In the latest of several controversies which have made headlines in the Kevin murder case, main accused Shanu, his father and accused number 5 Chacko, and Shefin - accused number 7, have been booked for misbehaving with the police.
The trio have been booked for verbally abusing police officers of Armed Reserve camp and for obstructing them from discharging their duties.
“The officers were accompanying them after a hearing from the trial court in Kottayam when they began abusing and obstructing them. The incident happened late April. An FIR was lodged on May 2,” Mahesh Kumar, sub-inspector of the Kottayam East Police station told TNM.
The three accused are already in judicial remand in the Kottayam district sub-jail in connection with the case. Following the latest incident, the Kottayam east police station booked them under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duties) and 294b (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), read with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.
In May 2018, the 23-year-old Kevin, a Dalit Christian from Kerala, was found dead in the Challiyekara river in Kollam. Kevin was in a relationship with 21-year-old Neenu, and the duo were planning to get their marriage registered, despite opposition from Neenu’s parents. Following his death, 14 accused including Neenu’s brother Shanu and their father Chacko were found to be involved in the abduction and murder. Shanu, who is Neenu’s brother and main accused, is said to have masterminded Kevin’s abduction.
Over the course of the trial in this high-profile case, the accused in several instances have intimidated, attacked and threatened witnesses into turning hostile. As of today, five witnesses have already turned hostile during the court proceedings in the case, claiming that they were not aware of the involvement of the accused persons.
Last week, two other accused in the Kevin murder case were booked for attacking a witness and forcing him to turn hostile. The witness, a 32-year old man named Rajesh, filed a complaint with the police following which the accused persons were nabbed. A total of five persons from Punalur were booked in the case. Two of them - Manu Muraleedharan (accused number 6) and Shinu Nasser (accused number 13) were already in remand in the murder case. Their bail has been cancelled and the other accused were arrested and produced before the magistrate by Punalur police.
Five witnesses out of a total of over 100 witnesses, have turned hostile during the trial proceedings. The latest incident involved Sulaiman and Allen, who changed their stance during the trial proceedings at the Kottayam Principal Sessions Court.
Sulaiman, who is the neighbour of accused number 8 Nishad, denied that he had seen the accused’s mobile phone being recovered. Sulaiman is witness number 98.
Meanwhile, Allen, who works at a petrol pump in Punalur denied that he had met the main accused, Shanu Chacko, outside the fuel station on the day of the abduction. Allen is witness number 27 in the case.
Prior to this, several of the accused persons had even dressed similarly and sported matching haircuts before appearing in the trial court for identification, in an attempt to confuse witnesses.
