Kottayam: The investigating officer in the sensational Kevin murder case owned up to an error in a key police document during the ongoing trial here. DySP Girish P Sarathy admitted to the error during a cross examination by the defence side.
The inquest report in the Kevin murder case which said the victim's body was first found in Chaliyakkara river by the Punalur SI was not correct, the investigating officer has said in the court.
The police report submitted by the prosecution in the court says that the SI of the Punalur police station was the first person to see the body of Kevin in Chaliyakkara river at 8.30 am on May 28, 2018. The Punalur police, which conducted the inquest of the body that was recovered from the river, recorded that SI K Rajeevan first saw the body.
During cross examination on Thursday, when the defence lawyer sought an explanation, the DySP said that the report was wrong. The DySP also told the court that social worker Reji John was the person who first spotted the body in the river.
Reji John, who gave his statement to the court as the witness number 41, was the first person to spot the body in the river. Reji John came to the police station to convey the information. Reji John had in his statement to the court said that the body was lying face down.
The special prosecutor, however, said that the error in naming who spotted the body first won't affect the course of the case. There was no change in the time the body was spotted, the prosecutor said.
At the same time, the defence side's argument that the fourth accused Riyas' mobile phone can't have two SIM cards failed in the court. The court sought the mobile phone, charged it and switched it on to inspect it. It was confirmed that Riyas called first accused Sanu Chacko from Chaliyakkara using this phone.
During the cross examination, the defence side said that Riyas' mobile phone do not have the facility to use dual SIMs, following which the court sought it for inspection.
The defence side also alleged that though the third accused Ishan Ismail and fourth accused Riyas Ibrahimkutty were taken into custody on May 27, 2018, they were presented in the Ettumanoor court only on May 29 early morning. The documents too supported this. This is unlawful custody, it said.
The third accused was kept in custody at Punalur station and the fourth accused was detained at Kulathupuzha station for two days. On May 29, they were presented at Ettumanoor station at 4 am, their arrest was registered and a remand note prepared, it said.
However, the investigating officer said that the accused were caught at 2 am, brought to Ettumanoor station at 4 am and presented in the court at 11 am. The DySP added that who took the accused into custody were not shown in the documents.
The DySP also said that according to the statement of main witness Aneesh, everybody had gone to look for Kevin who had escaped from the car at Chaliyakkara and all the accused came back together.
Kevin P Joseph was abducted by a gang of criminals from his house in Kottayam allegedly on the instructions of his fiancée Neenu’s family on May 27, 2018. His body was found in a river in Kollam the next day. Though Kevin’s cousin Anish Sebastian was also kidnapped, he escaped unharmed.
