Trial resumes in Rs 6-cr hashish oil seizure case

Thiruvananthapuram: With the lockdown restrictions being eased, trial procedures of many crime cases that were stalled have resumed at courts.
One important case that has thus resumed is the trial of three accused, who were caught with hashish oil worth over Rs 6 crore from the city nearly three years ago. The trial is progressing before the district additional sessions court VII.
Last week, the witness examination by both the prosecution and defence as part of the trial came to an end. The final argument has also commenced following this. The judge is expected to pronounce the judgement within a few days.
The case pertains to the arrest of three men, Anthony Rosario Fernandez of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, and Benoy Thomas and Gopi Thankamani in Idukki on September 1, 2018. They were caught by an excise special team when they met at Attakkulangara in the city for drug transaction.
Hashish oil weighing 6.40kg, cash worth Rs 6.70 lakh, a Tata Sumo SUV and Toyota Etios car were seized. The accused have been serving in the prison as undertrial without a bail ever since.
The catch was made by a team led by excise circle inspector T Anikumar. The prosecution case is that Thomas and Thankamani brought the hashish oil to the city to hand it over to Fernandez. The drug was meant to be smuggled to Maldives. Fernandez was acting as a middleman between the buyer identified as Abdullah, a Maldivian citizen, and the seller, who was identified as Ullas of Idukki. Thomas and Thankamani were acting under the directives of Ullas, who had procured the hashish oil from Andhra Pradesh.
Public prosecutor K N Hareesh Kumar is leading the prosecution team in the case. They examined 13 witnesses, 87 documents and 48 material objects against the accused during the witness examination. The defence counsel, meanwhile, examined 17 witnesses and 15 documents in favour of the accused.