In a setback for the prosecution in the sensational case pertaining to the murder of a security guard in Thrissur, Kerala by ‘Ferrari Dad’ Muhammad Nisham, a leading businessman, a prime witness in the case turned hostile on Monday, the very first day of the trial. According to the prosaecution, security guard Chandrabose (48) had died due to the injuries he had suffered when Nisham rammed his Hummer SUV into him and manhandled him brutally.
First witness Anoop, a colleague of Chandrabose, had told the police and had stated before a magistrate as per Section 164 of the CrPC that he had seen Nisham ramming the Hummer into the victim and manhandling him. On Monday, Anoop told the trial court that he had seen nothing of this sort and had given such a statement under threats and pressure from the police.
With this, the Additional Sessions Court, Thrissur where the trial is being held, declared Anoop as having turned hostile as per the prosecution’s request. The prosecution is examining 111 witnesses in the case including Nisham’s wife Amal, Chandrabose’s widow Jamanthi and some colleagues of the guard.
Nisham, a leading businessman of Thrissur with stakes in different fields, had rammed the Hummer SUV he was driving into Chandrabose, who was on guard duty at the gates of the Sobha City luxury apartment complex at Puzhakkal near Thrissur, following an altercation after he arrived there on the wee hours of January 29. Nisham was a resident of Sobha City.
The businessman then manhandled the security guard at the gate itself despite the intervention by his colleagues. Nisham then pulled the guard into his Hummer and took him to apartment complex’s parking lot where he beat him up further. Chandrabose succumbed to injuries on February 16 at a private hospital some 7 km away from Thrissur city.
In the statement recorded under Section 164, Anoop had described all these incidents but on Monday, he told the court that he had not seen Nisham ramming the Hummer into Chandrabose as the police’s chargesheet had claimed. However, he admitted that the Hummer had hit Chandrabose and he had suffered injuries due to that. He said he had not seen any altercation between Chandrabose and Nisham nor had he seen Nisham attacking the guard.
When the court asked him whether he was aware of the consequence of lying before a magistrate, Anoop said he had given the false statement knowing about it, adding that the police had taught him the statements he should make.
Apart from Anoop, 13 others including two other guards, who had been on duty at the apartment complex gates at the time of the incident, Amal and Jamanthi had given statements in the case under Section 164 of the CrPC. According to sources, the prosecution is said to have been anticipating the possibility of some witnesses turning hostile. Sources said that it could be a matter of worry if more witnesses behaved like Anoop as witness statement were of crucial importance in the case in which evidences like the dying declaration of Chandrabose and the blood-stained clothes he was wearing at the time of the incident were unavailable.
Nisham, who owned several high-end vehicles like Hummer, Rolls Royce and Ferrari, had got a nickname, Ferrari Dad, after he was booked for allowing his nine-year-old son to drive a Ferrari. The businessman who has several criminal cases against him has been in prison since the day of attack on Chandrabose. He is the only accused in the murder case.
The court is trying to conclude the proceedings in the case at the earliest by holding the trial on all working days.