PALAKKAD: As 11 of the prosecution witnesses in the Madhu lynching case have turned hostile during trial in the Special Court for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in Mannarkad, the police have initiated efforts to take action against them. In the latest case, another witness, Veeeran, turned hostile on Wednesday.
The police have started collecting evidence of them being influenced by the accused and will submit a report in this regard to the government pleader who will produce it in the court.
“The accused are using all their means to influence the witnesses,” said Sarasu, sister of the tribal youth of Kadukumanna who was lynched by a crowd at Mukkali in Attappadi on February 22, 2018.
Madhu case: Police collect proof of accused influencing witnesses
“Some of the witnesses had contacted us and demanded money to say that they had seen the youths hitting Madhu. But we told them that we did not have any money. Moreover, a person, who lives nearby, came to our house with his driver on behalf of the accused and offered to construct a house costing `35-40 lakh for us if we withdrew the case,” said Sarasu. She added that now the accused were trying to accuse the police of killing Madhu. “But it was not the police who brought him from Ajumudi forest to Mukkali. The accused persons had beaten him up throughout the the 4km trekking route from the forest to Mukkali. They had tied his hands and made fun of him,” said Sarasu.
“We plan to leave Attappadi for a rented house in Mannnarkad as we fear the accused would even attack us. The person, who offered to build the house, had asked us how many tribals had got killed in these years and it was nothing new in Attappadi,” said Sarasu.There were 70-80 injuries on Madhu. His head was hit against a hard surface. It took only 40 minutes to reach the hospital from Mukkali junction. In the front seat of the jeep, there was only the sub-inspector of police and the driver. In the back seat, there was one tribal policeman and Madhu. Therefore, it is too far-fetched to blame the police for Madhu’s death, said Agali DySp N Muralidharan.
He said that it is unfortunate that of the seven witnesses who gave their secret statements under Section 164 of CrPC in the court, six have backtracked.Meanwhile, based on a complaint filed by Madhu’s mother Malli, the Agali police registered a case under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act two days ago against one Abbas, 70, of Mukkali for allegedly threatening her and asking her to withdraw the lynching case.
Three of the witnesses -- Chandran who is relative of Madhu, Anil Kumar and Razak who had given CrPC Section 164 statements in the court -- also turned hostile despite knowing the consequences and were sacked from their temporary jobs in the forest department. The other witnesses who have done so are Unnikrishnan, Anandan, Mehrunnissa, Jolly, Kali Moopan, Kakki Moopan, Maruthan and Veeran.
“The witnesses are turning hostile because of influence, threat or inducements. The law will take its own course as a case will be registered against those witnesses. The police are collecting evidence of the accused approaching the petitioners,” said special public prosecutor Rajesh M Menon.“The fact is that the accused and witnesses have been living in the same place for the last four years which is not a small period. The Witness Protection Scheme should also be implemented,” said Menon.