The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Manichan found guilty of plotting murder

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Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Manichan found guilty of plotting murder

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The District Court on Friday found former liquor contractor Manichan guilty of plotting the murder of Additional Director-General of Police Siby Mathew. Manichan is serving a life sentence at the Central Prison, Poojappura, after he was convicted in the Kalluvathackal liquor tragedy case.

Mr. Siby Mathew had investigated Manichan, among other suspects, in connection with the liquor tragedy that claimed 32 lives in October, 2000.

Earlier, the Crime Branch police had charged Manichan with plotting the murder of Mr. Siby Mathew at the Central Prison. The prosecution accused Manichan of offerring weapons, transport and money to a fellow convict for killing the crime investigator.

It argued that Manichan had asked his fellow convict to kill Mr. Siby Mathew by ramming a vehicle into the police officer’s car. If the bid failed, Manichan allegedly asked the convict to cut off Mr. Siby Mathew’s limbs.

The prosecution arraigned the convict as one of its prime witnesses in the case.

The convict testified against Manichan during the course of trial. He said he had initially agreed to carry out Manichan’s bidding for the large amount of money he was offered. The convict said prudence prevailed over him later and he duly brought the conspiracy to the attention of the Prison authorities.

Spirit mafia

During the course of the Kalluvathackal liquor tragedy investigation, Mr. Siby Mathew had dealt a major blow to the spirit mafia in the State. He had unearthed hidden spirit caches worth crores of rupees and exposed well entrenched illicit spirit smuggling and distribution networks. The investigation also uncovered the nexus between spirit mafia lords and corrupt elements in the police, Excise and Revenue departments.

In a major haul, Mr. Siby Mathew had unearthed 90,000 litres of illicit spirit from a clandestine godown run by Manichan under the cover of a brick factory at Attingal. Police teams, which inspected the factory in the wake of liquor tragedy, had failed to detect the underground spirit godown.

The Crime Branch police have charged Manichan with abetment under Section 115 of the Indian Penal Code. The court examined 20 witnesses, several of them convicts. Manichan faces imprisonment up to seven years and fine in the case. The Additional Sessions Judge, K. Viswanathan Nair, will pronounce the verdict on Saturday.

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