KOCHI: A CBI court on Monday acquitted all 19 persons, including a priest who were accused in the sensational Malankara Varghese murder case of 2002 linked to a feud between Jacobite and Orthodox Malankara churches.
The CBI Court Judge Anil K Baskar decided to acquit all the accused persons after the prosecution failed to present any concrete evidence against 19 accused persons including the priest of the Jacobite faction. The court's verdict comes 20 years after the incident. During this time, three persons named as accused have passed away.
The acquittal of all the accused is a setback for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the probe in 2007.
READ HERE | Blow to CBI in Malankara Varghese murder case
The case pertains to the murder of Varghese, a leader of the Malankara Orthodox faction, by a gang outside a car workshop on MC Road near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district on December 5, 2002. Following a feud between the Jacobite faction and the Orthodox faction, a criminal gang was hired to finish off Varghese. First accused Fr Varghese was found part of the conspiracy for murder and arranging funds for hiring the criminal gang.
The case first probed by Kerala Police was transferred to the Crime Branch before the CBI Chennai unit took over the probe in 2007. Following the request for re-investigation, the CBI Kochi unit conducted a probe and filed a chargesheet in 2015. CBI prosecutor Biju Babu appeared for the trial. While accused persons were represented by B Raman Pillai, Thomas Abraham Nilackappilli, M Sunil Kumar, VT Raghunath and Isaac Thomas.
The acquitted persons are - Fr Varghese Thekkekkara, Joy Varghese, Alias K Mathew, Abraham Paulose, AV Thambi, Abdul Vahab MM, Sajin Sajimon, VN Prathesh, PG Prasad, PP Tony, Jaison KJ, Jayaraj VN, Sreevalsan PJ, PD Roy, Anil Davis, KR Anand, PP Antu, Sivan AR and Josemon CV.
The three persons who are no more are Jayaraj VN, Anil Davis and PP Antu.
The trial in the case commenced at CBI Court in Kochi in November 2021. As many as 85 prosecution witnesses and 206 documents were examined as part of the trial. Two witnesses were presented as defence witnesses and 29 documents presented by defence counsels were examined.