KOCHI: The forgery case involving Fr Paul Thelakkat of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese and Bishop Jacob Manathodath, the Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese, over the alleged attempt to defame Cardinal George Alencherry has taken a new turn. Protests erupted in front of the Aluva DySP office late on Friday after a youth, reportedly hailing from Alappuzha, was taken into custody by a team led by Aluva DySP KA Vidyadharan, who is probing the case.
The case was registered with Manathodath and Fr Thelakkat as accused based on a complaint by the internet mission of the Syro-Malabar Church. Fr Thelakkat had handed over the documents in question to Manathodath, who was holding an internal investigation into the controversial land deals of the archdiocese. However, it snowballed into a controversy after it was found to be fake.
Fr Thelakkat had earlier told the police that he received the documents via email. He had said he handed over the same to Manathodath so that its authenticity could be verified. The police said an investigation based on the server from which the email was sent led the police to the person who was taken in custody.