By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Kochi: The prime accused and lone convict in the Chekannur Moulvi murder case has been ordered to serve a double life sentence and a fine of Rs 1 lakh by the Special CBI Court Judge S Vijayakumar. The convict VV Hamsa was found to be guilty of murder, conspiracy for murder, kidnap and eliminating evidence.
The court had yesterday acquitted all the other eight accused in the case and convicted only Hamsa, the prime accused. Those acquitted are Ilyan Hamsa, PK Saifudheen, Muhammed Basheer, Muhammed Kutty, Kunhi Marakkar, Abdul Gafoor, P Abdussalam and Usman Musliyar. The 17-year old case had a long hearing of five years which ended last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Chekannur Moulvi’s uncle Salim Haji accused that the CBI had not presented the crucial evidences collected from Chuvanna Kunnu, where the dead body was supposed to be buried. Moulvi’s wife Hawa Umma responded to the court order with tearful eyes. She expressed her relief that at least one was pronounced guilty, but questioned how he alone could murder Moulvi.
PKM Abdul Hassan, popularly known as Chekannur Moulvi, went missing on July 29, 1993, after he left his home in Malappuram with two persons who had said they were taking him for a religious speech. A complaint was filed with the Ponnani police. The investigation of the local police and the Crime Branch bore no fruits for four years. Then the case was handed over to the CBI in 1996. The chargesheet submitted by the CBI in 2002 reportedly says that VV Hamsa had fetched Moulvi from his home on the day of his missing and Moulvi was then murdered. Two persons were arrested in 2000 and the rest seven in 2005.
The chargesheet naming nine accused was submitted by CBI Chennai Unit Inspector VT Nandakumar at the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on December 18, 2002. The chargesheet reportedly accused that a conspiracy was held at the Karanthur Markaz, centre of the Samastha Kerala Jam’iyathul Ulema (AP faction), under the leadership of the ninth accused Usman Musliyar. The accused carried out their mission in four groups. The first group fetched Moulvi from his home and the second group killed him on the way in the vehicle itself. The dead body was taken to Chuvanna Kunnu around 12.30 at night and buried there by the third group. The CBI team has not been able to discover any remains of the body even after a thorough examination in the Chuvanna Kunnu for days in 2000. So it is said that the fourth group removed the body from the place to somewhere else.