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Five acquitted in Marad riot-related case

Kozhikode: The Special Additional District Sessions Court (Marad Cases), on Thursday, acquitted five persons in a case of looting and arson during the communal clashes at the seaside village of Marad on January 3, 2002.

K.P. Prasannakumari, judge, said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against Ramadasan, Akilesh, Shinju, Sudheer and Prageesh, all hailing from Marad.

The prosecution said they had set fire to the house of Kinnatindakathu Mymoona and destroyed the engine of her fibre boat, fishing nets and household utensils, estimated at Rs.40,000.

The accused had decamped with 12 sovereigns of gold. The total loss came up to Rs.2.2 lakh.

The police had charged the accused under sections 436 (mischief by fire or explosives with intent to destroy house), 450 (house-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death), 153-A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 143 (unlawful assembly) and 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

This is the eleventh of the 67 cases registered in connection with the communal clashes, including five murders on the Marad beach, on January 3 and 4, 2002.

K.V. Joseph appeared for the prosecution and P.S. Sreedharan Pillai and P.P. Surendran appeared for the accused.

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