The hearing on the argument on the petition for a polygraph test on Om Prakash and Rajesh, accused in the Paul Muthoot George murder case, was adjourned to September 29 by the Ramankary Judicial First Class Magistrate here on Friday.
The magistrate, who heard the prosecution’s version on the petition submitted earlier this week by the Special Investigation Team probing the murder, decided to hear the defense lawyer’s argument against the test on September 29 before deciding on the lie-detector test. The prosecution argued that the roles of Om Prakash and Rajesh, who are currently the 15th and 16th accused in the case, were still vague and that a polygraph test, which would have no adverse effects on the person’s health, was necessary to throw light on this aspect.
Meanwhile, the Alappuzha Sessions Court rejected the bail petitions of accused number one to 14 in the case on Friday. Those who were rejected bail included Jayachandran and Sattar, who are said to have led the hired gang from Changanassery to Alappuzha apart from Kaari Satheesh, who later confessed to have stabbed Paul.
The Sessions court, which had deferred a decision after hearing arguments on the bail petitions on Thursday, had also asked the prosecution to make it clear whether Om Prakash and Rajesh were travelling along with Paul on the Ford Endeavour he was driving, or whether they were with Paul’s driver Shibu on a Scorpio, as Shibu had stated to the police. The prosecution, which had asked for time to study the issue, replied on Friday that Prakash and Rajesh were not on the same vehicle with Paul, and that Shibu had given a wrong statement since he was in shock after the murder. As per police reports, Prakash and Rajesh were travelling with Shibu on the Scorpio when the murder took place, assistant public prosecutor Joykutty Jose told the court.
A decision on the police petition to question the accused in jail and to collect their blood samples was posted to September 29.
