Kottayam: The identification parade of five police officers, including the gunman of the former chief minister, who are accused of assaulting KSU and Youth Congress workers during the Nava Kerala Yatra, was conducted on Friday. Following the second day of questioning by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the identification parade was held at the Alappuzha crime branch office after summoning the complainants. The complainants included MLA A D Thomas, Youth Congress functionary Ajay Juval Kuriakose, and news channel cameraman Jojimon Joseph, who captured the footage of the incident.
Accused Identified
The complainants identified the accused as Anilkumar, S Sandeep, V K Shaiju, R Arun, and V V Vipin. Meanwhile, the 'lathi-like weapon' used by the gunmen to attack has not yet been recovered. Although the investigation team asked further questions about this on the second day, the accused stated that the allotted lathi was returned to the concerned unit when the duty ended. The SIT’s finding is that what the accused used was not a lathi but a longer stick.
Weapon Recovery Challenges
In a case charged with attempt to murder, the weapons must be recovered in the presence of the accused as per evidence law. However, since it was not practical to travel from Alappuzha to Thiruvananthapuram and find the weapon within the time limit prescribed by the court, this did not happen. The SIT plans to issue a departmental-level notice to recover the weapons, retrieve them from the unit concerned, and send them to the forensic lab for examination.
Next Steps in Investigation
With the identification parade completed, an evidence collection will be conducted with the accused on Saturday at the Alappuzha General Hospital junction, where the incident took place. MLA Thomas and Kuriakose expressed satisfaction with the investigation so far and stated that they would demand a special public prosecutor.
