Another witness produced by the police in the Dalit priest suicide case also turned hostile here on Tuesday. He is the third witness to turn hostile in the case so far. However, other four witnesses gave their statements.
Examining the second batch of eye witnesses commenced at the Principal District and Sessions Court.
The Thenkarai police produced eight out of 22 witnesses for the trial. All the accused including O. Raja, brother of Finance Minister O. Paneerselvam, were present.
Reacting to a series of questions raised by the Public Prosecutor B. Mohan, Ram Senthil of Periyakulam gave contradictory statements that did not match the statement recorded by the police. After hearing the statement of Ram, the court accepted him as hostile witness.
Later, other witnesses – Chinna Raj, relative of Subbu Raj, former school head master Manoharan of Periyakulam, Siva of Kallipatti and Kathir alias Vincent Raj — were examined by the public prosecutor and cross examined by defence counsel M. Kannappan.
Later, Principal District Judge R. Poornima adjourned the case to Wednesday. She had already informed that that trial would be conducted continuously till March 24. First batch of eye witnesses was completed on Tuesday.
