The Kozhikode Sessions Court on Friday granted bail to Praji Kumar, the third accused in the Koodathayi serial killing case.
Praji Kumar, 44, a goldsmith, had allegedly helped the prime accused, Jolly Joseph, by supplying cyanide for poisoning six persons, including her former husband. He was charged in five of the six cases.
P. Ragini, Sessions Judge, granted bail to Praji Kumar in two cases — in the murder of retired Education Department officer Tom Thomas and Mathew Manjadiyil.
The Koodathayi case relates to six murders in which Jolly allegedly eliminated two branches of the Ponnamattom ancestral family after giving them cyanide-laced food or drink over a period of 14 years. Special Prosecutor N.K. Unnikrishnan had opposed Praji Kumar’s bail application.
Earlier, the High Court of Kerala had granted bail to Praji Kumar in three other cases pertaining to the killing of Roy Thomas, the first husband of Jolly Joseph; Sily, wife of Shaju Zacharias, the second husband of Jolly, and her two-year-old daughter Alphine.
