The accused in the Muttil tree-felling case, who are in judicial custody, attended the funeral of their mother Ithamma Augustine of Moongananiyil at Vazhavatta in the district on Friday evening under police protection.
The Sulthan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court had directed the district jail superintendent to make arrangements for the accused —Roji Augustine and his brothers Jose Kutty Augustine (37) and Anto Augustine (32) — to attend the funeral.
The accused reached their house around 3 p.m. under police protection and after the funeral, they were taken back to the District Jail at Mananthavady around 5 p.m.
The funeral was postponed after the Sulthan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Thursday rejected the demand of the accused to be allowed to attend the funeral without the police protection. The court also denied them interim bail for the purpose.
Bail plea
The court would consider the bail application of the accused on Monday. Though the accused had submitted the bail application on Thursday, it was postponed to Friday. However, the counsel for the accused did not appear in the court on the day. However, the police submitted their report on the bail application. The police submitted that the court should not consider the bail as the trio had an active role in the tree-felling case.
