KOCHI: The defence in the Vellamunda Maoist case, involving suspected senior CPI (Maoist) leader Roopesh, has approached the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Kochi to take action against a policeman, who is also the complainant, for misleading the court.
The case, for which trial has been completed, has been posted by the NIA court for judgment on April 1. The case pertains to a break-in by a group of Maoists, who barged into the house of senior civil police officer A B Pramod, of Vellamunda station, in Wayanad, in April 2014.
They allegedly threatened to kill him by training their guns on him and demanded his resignation from service. While leaving the house, they set his motorcycle on fire, causing a loss of Rs 30,000. The case was first probed by Kerala police before the NI A took over.
Advocate V T Raghunath filed a petition in court against Pramod for action under section 340 of the CrPC (procedure for initiating proceedings for offences that affect the administration of justice) for perjury. According to Raghunath, when Pramod was examined as a witness two years back, he submitted receiving an insurance amount for the motorbike that was set ablaze by the accused.
“However, we found that insurance companies do not pay for damages to property from terror attacks. When we raised this, the court ordered the reinterrogation of Pramod,” Raghunath said. During his recent reexamination, Pramod told the court that the insurance amount related to damage caused to a relative’s vehicle.
“It is clear that he gave a wrong statement in court during the trial. We have filed a petition requesting action against the policeman. The court will rule on our petition on April 1. If the court accepts our plea, a magistrate will be appointed to conduct an inquiry into the incident,” Raghunath.
