Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday rejected in the Assembly allegations of the Congress-led UDF that there has been laxity on the part of the police and prosecution in the case of killing of a tribal man in Palakkad district in 2018.

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Vijayan told the Assembly that on noticing witnesses in the case turning hostile, the prosecution moved to cancel the bail granted to the accused.

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Besides that, a committee constituted in the district under the Witness Protection Scheme also held a meeting and decided to take stringent measures to ensure the witnesses are not intimidated or influenced by the accused in the case, he said.

Furthermore, a witness protection cell was also functioning there and was working to ensure safety and security of the witnesses as well as the victim's mother who was also allegedly threatened by some of the accused.

The Chief Minister was responding to the opposition UDF's allegations that there has been laxity on the part of the police and prosecution in performing their duties which resulted in several witnesses in the case turning hostile.

Another allegation they made was that prosecutors in the case were not being provided allowances or other necessary facilities and that was the reason for two of them recusing themselves from the case initially.

Even the fourth and latest prosecutor in the case was not receiving the necessary facilities, the UDF claimed.

While claiming that the police and prosecution were working diligently, Vijayan said none of the earlier prosecutors in the case ever said they were leaving due to lack of allowances or facilities.

He said that, nevertheless, the government will look into whether the present prosecutor was receiving his allowances and other facilities.

The tribal man, Madhu, from Attappady was killed after he was caught, tied and thrashed by a group of local people alleging theft of food articles on February 22, 2018.

Vijayan said that the killing was being viewed very seriously by the state and the police and the government has been taking all necessary steps to ensure that the culprits are punished.

On August 20, a Special Court for trial of offences under the SC/ST Act ordered the cancellation of the bail, accepting the prosecution's argument that under the influence of the accused, several witnesses had turned hostile during the ongoing trial.

In its order, the court said on the evaluation of the entire materials brought before it by the prosecution, it came to the conclusion that the accused have influenced the witnesses and attempted to challenge rather dictate the whole criminal administrative system of the country. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)