Kozhikode: The Kozhikode Juvenile Justice Board on Monday decided to temporarily suspend proceedings in the trial of the five juveniles connected to the massacre of nine fishermen at Marad seaside on May 2, 2003.
Kozhikode Chief Judicial Magistrate K.V. Gopikuttan, who is the chairman of the board, and member Nazir Chaliyam took the decision after special prosecutor P.D. Ravi moved a petition seeking suspension of the trial.
The petition stated that material evidences were required to proceed further with the trial and examination of witnesses.
As of now, all materials were in the custody of the Marad Special Court at Eranhipalam.
It had recently completed the trial of the 137 accused in the case.
Earlier, the High Court of Kerala had ordered that the materials should be transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board only after the Marad Special Court completed all proceedings in connection with trial.
Nearly 102 witnesses have been examined by the board so far in connection with the trial. The board had approved to examine 175 witnesses in the case. The trial of the juveniles was started in 2007.
Among those who deposed include former Kozhikode Collector T.O. Sooraj, former Kozhikode Revenue Divisional Officer P. Balan, former Kozhikode Tahasildhar P. Koyakutty and former Beypore village officer K.V. Sundaran Nair.