Jishnu Pranoy case abetment' won't stand

Thrissur: The prosecution has suffered a  setback with the High Court  giving anticipatory bail to all the five accused in the Jishnu Pranoy suicide case on Tuesday.   While granting bail to the fourth accused and examination invigilator C.P. Praveen and exam cell coordinator Dibin, the court  said that the prosecution could not  substantiate the charges against the five  for abetting the suicide and added that the accused cannot be further investigated on the same charges. The court also imposed several restrictions on further questioning  them. Rural SP N. Vijayakumar  heading the SIT said that  the accused would be further interrogated as per the HC guidelines.   

The SIT and the prosecution had made a case of abetting suicide and conspiracy based mainly on the statement of principal S. Varadarajan  and the students. But the court  found contradictions in the statements of the principal and gave anticipatory bail to the accused. Special Public Prosecutor C.P. Udhayabanu told DC that further steps would be decided after holding discussions and added that the HC order could not be seen as a setback. The SIT can now interrogate the accused only on the charges of forging documents and extortion by citing that the accused had forcibly  made Jishnu  sign on the documents they prepared.