KOCHI: The forged documents case, which rocked the Syro-Malabar Church, saw an intriguing twist on Sunday with the arrest of 24-year-old techie Adithya Valavi. Sources said Adithya allegedly e-mailed the documents to senior priest of Syro-Malabar Church Fr Paul Thelakkat, which were used to defame Cardinal George Alenchery.
According to police, Adithya, a resident of Konthuruthi and researcher at IIT Madras, e-mailed the document found in the server of a multinational company to Fr Thelakkat. Police said the motive behind the forgery is under investigation, even as speculations were rife about the involvement of a young priest, Fr Antony Kallookaran, vicar of Muringoor Sanjoe Nagar Church, in the case. According to sources, Adithya had e-mailed the documents as instructed by Fr Kallookaran.
The police are yet to identify the documents and their source. “The documents are indeed forged. We have not yet identified any such document in the server of the company he was working for. The motive behind the forgery is under investigation”, said a police officer. The police have registered a case under IPC Sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a forged document as genuine one).
The disappearance of a document in the server may occur when a new server is introduced. “During crime investigation, the timing and purpose of obtaining a particular document from a specific server, are very important. There are several possibilities for the disappearance of documents online. If one server in the chain is changed, then the entire document database may get wiped out, and we will not be able to source the documents thereafter,” said Dhanya Menon, cyber investigator.
Cardinal George Alencherry who responded to the media regarding the arrest of the techie said the police and Court would decide on whether there was any conspiracy in the forgery. A protest by a group of people, including vicar of the Church of St John Nepumsian, Konthuruthy, Fr Mathew Edassery, was staged on Friday in front of the Aluva DySP office after Adithya was taken into custody.