Mithila Case: Statement of accused to be recorded

The Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court will record the statement of Santhosh Kumar alias Kannan, first accused in the V A Mohanan alias Mithila Mohan murder case, on a petition filed by the Crime Branch seeking permission to conduct narco test on the accused, on April 30.The Crime Branch is seeking the court’s permission to conduct a psychological evaluation, including narco-analysis, brain-mapping and polygraph test on the accused. The court will ask the willingness of Santhoshkumar for undergoing the test.

According to the CB, subjecting the accused to the test is necessary for the investigation, to find out the involvement of the third and fourth accused in the case. The CBI also produced a consent letter of Santhosh Kumar along with the petition. It further submitted that there was contradiction in the statements given by Kumar.

Santhosh Kumar had earlier deposed that Mathivannan and Uppili from Vedaranyam were engaged for the crime for `10 lakh. He said he had hired the duo through the second accused Dindigul Pandian to murder Mohan. Later, Pandian was shot dead in an encounter with the Tamil Nadu police at Neelangari on February 3, 2010.

However, Senthil Kumar, who was also part of Pandian’s gang, deposed before the team that Mohan Ram was the sharpshooter who shot Mithila Mohan. “There were some contradictions in these statements, hence we took the decision to request the court for permission to conduct the narco-analysis,” the Crime Branch submitted.

Meanwhile, Magistrate Philip Thomas dismissed the bail plea of the accused. According to the prosecution, investigation in the case is in progress and the Crime Branch still has to identify some accused in the case.

If the first accused is released on bail, it will adversely affect the probe. The court observed that the material on record prima facie indicates that the accused is involved in the case.

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