One more prosecution witness turned hostile on Monday during trial in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Jayendra Saraswathi are the main accused.
Three witnesses were examined during the trial which resumed before Principal District and Sessions Judge T. Ramaswamy.
Special Public Prosecutor N. Devadoss, who examined an employee of the petrol bunk, noticed that he contradicted his earlier statements and declared him hostile.
Mr. Devadoss also examined a photographer of district police at Kancheepuram and a judicial officer.
Of the 170 witnesses examined so far since commencement of the trial, 77 have turned hostile.
Mr. Sankararaman, Manager of the Varadararjaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on the premises of the temple on September 3, 2004.
The two seers had been accused of hatching a conspiracy to murder Mr. Sankararaman.
The trial was shifted to Puducherry from Chengalpattu district court on Supreme Court’s order in October 2005.
The trial would continue tomorrow.
