Kottayam youth Kevin who was found murdered in a suspected case of honour killing.Kottayam: Two police officers, who were arrested for taking bribe from the accused in the brutal Kevin murder case, have been granted bail. A court in Ettumanur flayed the investigating team for being unable to produce evidence supporting the allegation that two cops linked to the case had accepted bribe. The First-Class Judicial Magistrate rejected the police plea for custody of the policemen and granted them bail.
Assistant sub-inspector TM Biju and civil police officer Ajayakumar of the Gandhinagar police station were granted bail on Saturday. They were arrested on charges of accepting bribe from Syanu Chacko, first accused in the alleged murder. Chacko led a gang of goons who kidnapped Kevin in the wee hours of May 27, when these two cops were on patrol duty near the house from where the victim was snatched. The police team sought them in custody to recover the bribe money.
The police said the ASI and the driver had intercepted a car used by the gang after noticing that its number plate was hidden. However, the two cops had allowed the vehicle to proceed after taking a bribe of Rs 2,000. However, the magistrate pointed out that the bribe is only orally referred to and the police is not even sure how much money was involved. Neither are there are any particulars of witnesses. The court also slammed the police for filing a custody plea without even presenting the accused.
Kevin P Joseph was abducted on May 27 by a gang allegedly engaged by his fiancee's family, who opposed their relationship. His body was found in a river in Kollam district a day later.
Kevin's relatives have alleged that he was tortured and killed two days after he and his fiancee Neenu filed a joint application for marriage registration at a sub-registrar office near here.
In all, 14 people have been named as accused in the case related to the killing.
Two other personnel of the Gandhinagar police station, where Neenu had lodged a missing complaint earlier, had been suspended for 'laxity' in dealing with the matter.
Kottayam district superintendent of police V M Mohammed Rafique has been transferred following the incident.
The alleged honour killing rocked the state with the Congress and the BJP attacking the LDF government over it.
(With PTI Inputs)
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