KOTTAYAM: In a major development in the trial of the abduction and murder of Kevin P Joseph, Abin Pradeep, one of the key witnesses in the case, turned hostile. Abin, the 28th witness in the case denied the prosecution stance that some of the accused in the case had informed him about the abduction.
Abin changed his stance before the Principal Sessions Judge C Jayachandran here on Monday.
The prosecution, on Monday also examined two other witnesses in the case Benny Joseph and Biju Abraham, who have been arraigned as the sixth and seventh witnesses respectively. While Abin maintained that he was forced to give a secret statement against the accused under coercion of the police, the other two persons stood firm on their earlier statements.
Earlier, Abin had admitted to the investigation team that some of the accused had sought his help in kidnapping Kevin. Abin also gave a confidential statement at the Changanassery Magistrate Court under Cr PC Section 164, admitting the same.
Though, he was not part of the kidnap gang, Abin had also confessed to aiding the tenth accused to hide the machetes in his possession after the crime.However, Abin changed his stance during the trial and said he was not at all aware of Kevin’s abduction. Following this, the prosecution requested the court to declare him hostile.