Beaten up in police custody, says Aditya Valavi

Kochi: The judicial first class magistrate court at Kakkanad has posted the bail petition of Aditya Valavi, arrested in connection with the ‘forged’ church documents case, to Wednesday after recording his statement under section 164.

Aditya, an alumnus of IIT Chennai, and currently doing research, allegedly had forged the documents linked to Cardinal George Alenchery, Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church. He startled the court on Tuesday when he said that the police had tortured him for implicating two priests of the Syro-Malabar Church while in custody.

The court then ordered his medical examination. After its completion, the court recorded his statement under section 164 lasting for nearly two hours. The court then asked the police to produce him in the court on Wednesday while considering his bail petition.

The police produced him in the court on Tuesday seeking three days’ custody for further interrogation.

The charges of custody torture may land the investigation team in trouble as a section of the Church leadership has already accused the police of falsely implicating the techie in the case. 

Aditya said he was beaten up in his feet and that the police officials threatened to pull-out the nails from his toes.

According to him, the investigating team tortured him to make a statement against Fr. Antony Kallookkaran in the case. The police said Fr. Antony Kallookaran, vicar of Muringoor Sanjoe Nagar Church, had been included as the fourth accused in the case. According to the police, Aditya made the documents at the behest of Fr. Kallookaran.

He approached the High Court on Tuesday seeking anticipatory bail in the wake of the police listing him as an accused in the case. The court is likely to consider the petition on Wednesday.

The petition filed by Aluva DySP K. A. Vidyadharan seeking custody of Aditya stated that he had forged the documents in a computer at the shop owned by his father at Konthuruthi. The documents included transfer of Rs 16 lakh from the account of Alenchery to a hotel chain on September 21, 2016. Another document created by Aditya shows transfer of Rs 85,000 from the account of the cardinal to the same company on July 9, 2017. Another document shows Cardinal Alenchery is having investment in the same company.          

Case against Alenchery stayed: The Ernakulam district sessions court has stayed the proceedings against Cardinal Alenchery in the case connected with the controversial land deals of Syro-Malabar Church. The court stayed the proceedings in the suo motu case registered by the Kakkand magistrate court till the revision petition filed by the cardinal is disposed of. 

The land deal involves selling of three acres of the Church land for settling its dues. Although the land was to be sold for Rs 27 crore, in the records it was shown as sold for Rs 13.5 crore by a person identified as Saju Varghese, the middle man for the deal. Out of Rs 13.5 crore, the middle man paid only Rs 9 crore to the Church. The issue had snowballed into a major controversy with a section of the Church leadership alleging foul play.