Muthanga Verdict Ends 23-year Legal Battle in Kerala; 35 Acquitted, 21 Found Guilty

KALPETTA:
More than 23 years after the Muthanga police firing shook Kerala’s social and political landscape, the Wayanad District Principal Sessions Court on Friday delivered its long-awaited verdict in the murder case of police constable K.V. Vinod, bringing judicial closure to one of the state’s longest-pending criminal trials.

Principal Sessions Judge A. Ayyub Khan acquitted 35 accused, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges against them, while 21 others were found guilty of various offences, including rioting, unlawful assembly and encroachment into forest land.

However, the court ruled that the CBI failed to prove charges of murder conspiracy and attempted murder.

The court found that Vinod, a constable of the Kerala Armed Police Fourth Battalion, was killed by the second accused, Ashokan, who died during the course of the trial.

With the sole accused held responsible for the murder no longer alive, no sentence can now be imposed for the homicide.

The remaining convictions relate only to offences connected with the violence.

The case stemmed from the police operation on February 19, 2003, during the A.K. Antony government’s tenure, to evict hundreds of Adivasi families who had occupied land inside the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS).

The 47-day occupation, led by tribal leaders C.K. Janu and M. Geethanandan, ended in violent clashes that claimed the lives of both Constable Vinod and tribal protester Jogi.

The CBI had alleged that Vinod was taken hostage inside a makeshift shed and murdered during the confrontation, charging 57 persons, including Geethanandan.

The defence consistently maintained that there was no direct eyewitness to the alleged murder, arguing that journalists and other witnesses were positioned at a distance and that dense smoke from continuous police firing and grenade explosions made it impossible to see what transpired inside the shed.

The court ultimately found the evidence insufficient to establish the alleged conspiracy.

While the verdict brings an end to the criminal proceedings over Vinod’s death, it is unlikely to close the emotional wounds left by Muthanga.

Even as Vinod’s family finally sees the legal process conclude, tribal organisations continue to demand accountability for Jogi’s death, alleging that his killing in the police firing was never subjected to a meaningful investigation.