Two more prosecution witnesses turned hostile during the trial of the T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case at the Special Additional District and Sessions Court (Marad cases) at Eranhipalam here on Friday.
Thirty-four of the 64 witnesses so far examined by the trial court have turned hostile. Special judge R. Narayana Pisharadi declared them hostile under Section 154 (question by party to his own witness) of the Indian Evidence Act.
The case pertains to a gang, allegedly hired by a section of leaders of Communist Party of India (Marxist), hacking to death the Revolutionary Marxist Party leader at Onchiyam on May 4, 2012.
The witnesses declared hostile on Friday were T. Sumesh of Pannanyur and Prajin of Koothuparamba. Both retracted the statements they had given to the police during various stages of investigation.
During cross-examination, Sumesh failed to identify the 36th accused Jijesh Kumar. He said he neither knew a friend nor a neighbour by this name.
Previously Sumesh had signed the mahassar report prepared by the police that a team, led by the Vadakara Deputy Superintendent of Police Jossy Cherian, had visited the house of Jijesh Kumar along with the accused on June 14, 2012, and recovered two shirt buttons and sand with charcoal from a nearby land.
This he denied in court.
However, he admitted in court that the signature on the mahassar report was his. But he had never been witness to such an incident, he said. Sumesh said that he had signed the mahassar report at the Niram Club at Pannanyur and not in the house of the accused.
In his deposition, Prajin said that he was not a witness to the police team, led by Kannur Sub Inspector K. Azad, along with the first accused M. C. Anoop, raiding room No. 7 at Gangadhar complex in Akshay Nagar, Bangalore. Anoop had stayed in this room evading police arrest.
Prajin admitted that he had signed the mahassar report in a shop at Kaitheri Palam near Vattapara run by his father. But he denied that he knew Anoop.
Meantime, special prosecutor P. Kumarankutty requested the court to cancel the scheduled examination of witnesses listed from 114 to 118 as they could turn adverse. These five witnesses are Suresh Babu of Karumboli Madathiveetil, Maloor; P. Sukumaran of Karumboli Karekuniyil, Maloor; K. Mohini of Kunderipoyil Minisha house, Sivapuram; K. Satheeshan and K. Trideep of Kandamkuni Karakkiyil, Kaitheri. The judge said that if the prosecution had decided to exempt these five witnesses from examination it should have informed the court of the decision earlier. The court would not have unnecessarily served summons on them.
