A bloodstained towel, considered a key piece of evidence in the killing of NDF activist Mohammad Fazal, has been recovered after it disappeared from the custody of the Ernakulam Judicial Magistrate Court, prosecution sources said on Tuesday.
The disappearance of evidence came to light after the special CBI court, where the trial began in May, demanded collection of material items by the investigating agency.
The Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court informed the trial court that the towel, kept in a sealed cover in its custody, was missing.
The sealed cover bore an inscription stating that the towel had been damaged by rodents, the sources said.
Thereafter, the special CBI court sought a report from the CJM court.
The CJM court has now informed the special CBI court that the missing evidence has been recovered, although it was not immediately known how or where it was found, prosecution sources said.
The towel is crucial to the prosecution’s case, as it was allegedly planted near the house of an RSS worker to falsely implicate him and others associated with him in the murder.
The sources said that the court postponed the case to August 4.
Fazal (30), a National Development Front activist, was stabbed to death near a mosque in Thalassery on October 22, 2006.
The investigation was handed over to the CBI on the directions of the Kerala High Court on a petition filed by Fazal’s wife alleging lapses in the state police investigations.
The CBI chargesheet named eight CPI(M) members, including party leaders and current Thalassery MLA Karayi Rajan, as accused.
