All steps will be taken to ensure that the accused in the Madhu lynching case at Attappady got deserving punishment, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
He was replying to a question on witnesses turning hostile in the case during Question Hour in the Assembly on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister said a witness protection cell had been set up by the Palakkad District and Sessions Court to provide all help to witnesses and the prosecution in the Madhu case. The cell had been formed the after the police submitted a detailed report before the Palakkad sessions court.
Accordingly, steps had been taken to monitor email and phones of witnesses, provide police patrolling around their houses, and police security on their travel to and from court to prevent attempts to influence or threaten them.
Three temporary watchers under the Forest department who had turned hostile during the trial in the case had been suspended. The SC/ST Special Court at Mannarkkad had cancelled the bail of 12 accused in the case following a request by the prosecution claiming that the accused had influenced the witnesses. The court would be approached seeking a fresh trial of witnesses who had turned hostile.
Asked if the government would probe complaints of influencing of witnesses, Mr. Vijayan said the court itself had remarked that counsel for the accused had spoken in a threatening manner and Malli, Madhu’s mother, had also complained about being threatened. A case had been registered in this connection and the investigation had begun.
On the allegation of A.P. Anil Kumar, MLA, that two public special public prosecutors in the case had resigned earlier as they were not getting allowances, Mr. Vijayan said he was not aware that any prosecutors had cited failure to get allowances as the reason for quitting.
He denied any knowledge of news reports that Malli had complained to Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty about the current public prosecutor Rajesh M. Menon also not getting these allowances. However, the matter would be looked into and necessary action taken.
Rejecting Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan’s charge that the police had not done anything to help the prosecution efforts to ensure punishment for the accused and that there had been lapses such as witnesses turning hostile, Madhu’s mother being threatened, money changing hands, and threats being issued, Mr. Vijayan said that within hours of the incident, 16 people had been arrested and remanded. Though the accused had tried to influence witnesses, steps had been taken to protect them, and the bail of the accused had been cancelled so as prevent them from making any such attempts.
