A Kerala court on Friday acquitted all the accused in the 2003 murder of police constable KV Vinod, who was killed during the Muthanga Adivasi land rights agitation in Wayanad. A court, however, sentenced four, including tribal leader M. Geethanandan, in a related attempt-to-murder case involving two other officials.
Constable KV Vinod, an ex-partner member of the Kerala Armed Police 4th Battalion, was killed by tribal protesters during violent clashes with police on February 19, 2003 while police was trying to evict the protesters from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
In delivering the verdict, the Kalpetta Sessions Court pointed out that the other accused was Asokan who perished during the trial proceedings. The court added there was no evidence to prove there was a criminal conspiracy between the remaining accused, as the accused were merely involved in filmmaking and were not set on murdering Vinod.
All in all, out of a 57 accused who were originally charge sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 42 were placed on trial, 15 of whom died during the extended proceedings.
The court convicted Geethanandan, Binu, Rameshan and Anilkumar of kidnapping another police constable, Abdul Salam, and attempting to kill him, and the range officer, P.K. Sasidharan, while acquitting the other accused in the murder case. The four have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for five years and fined Rs 10,000 each.
The court also ordered P.K. Sasidharan to receive Rs 2 lakh, Abdul Salam to get Rs 3 lakh compensation, and KV Vinod’s family to receive Rs 7 lakh.
In reaction to the verdict, KV Babu, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police and elder brother of Vinod held his hands tight while expressing his dismay that the entire wait of the family for justice for decades was not fruitful enough.