A former assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Fort police was declared hostile by the District Court here on Thursday during the trial of the Ayyappan Ashari murder case.
Former ASI Sreedharan Nair, who had registered the first information report (FIR) in the case pertaining to the murder of Manacaud native Ayyappan Ashari on August 28, 2004, was declared hostile after he provided statements apparently to favour those accused in the incident.
The case is being heard by Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Judge VII Prasun Mohan. According to the prosecution led by special public prosecutor M. Salahudeen, Mr. Nair was part of the police team that responded to the incident. The retired police officer also took Ayyappan Ashari, who was stabbed, his brother Rajagopal and nephew Rajesh to the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital in a police jeep. He later recorded Rajagopal’s statement and prepared the FIR.
However, Mr. Nair made contradictory statements at the court while responding to the questions asked by the lawyer representing the 19th accused Vinod alias Lalu, a police constable.
The court also examined Ayyappan Ashari’s son Satheesh, nephew Rajesh and niece Priya, all of whom identified the accused persons. Satheesh also identified the weapons they had allegedly used to commit the murder.
