The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a cache of digital and direct evidence in court to bolster its case against the clutch of suspected intriguers it has accused of having orchestrated the near-fatal attack on journalist V.B. Unnithan in Kollam in 2011.
In its charge-sheet, the CBI said the evidence included damning e-mails and incriminating mobile phone records, which has prompted the agency to indict the alleged cabal of police officers, business people and paid thugs suspected to be responsible for the high-profile crime.
The CBI has accused DySP M. Santosh Nair, one of the principal suspects, of having transmitted the photograph of Unnithan to Container Santosh, an alleged accomplice in the crime. It has also named DySP Abdul Rashid as an active partner in the conspiracy.
The agency also submitted mobile phone evidence that it claimed showed constant communication between the plotters and the hit-men.
Approvers
Investigators have also flipped several lower-level conspirators and assailants to testify against the main accused in the case and named them approvers.
A series of news reports filed by the journalist in a Malayalam daily during the 2010-11 period had painted an unflattering portrait of the officers and their friends.
The reports accused them of debauchery, wanton misuse of authority, and corruption. The accused felt the critical articles had eroded their social standing and marred their career prospects.
The alleged attempt to wreak vengeance on Unnithan had commenced in 2010. There were several unsuccessful bids to waylay the journalist.
The accused then chose the run-up to the Legislative Assembly election in 2011 to target Unnithan for good. The journalist had overstated the assets of a candidate in Kollam.
The attackers, who ambushed him with iron rods on his way home, cited the erroneous election-related report as the motive for the attack.
The agency also suspect that Unnithan’s assailants had subsequently stabbed Kollam special-branch officer Babu Kumar believing him to be the journalist’s prime news source. It is scheduled to file a separate charge in that case.
K.J. Darwin and Thomas are the investigating officers.
