“The police tortured me, they beat up my legs,” Adithya, a techie from Kochi, told the media as he stood in front of the First Class Judicial Magistrate court in Kakkanad on Tuesday. He was arrested on Saturday on the charges of fabricating documents against Syro Malabar Catholic Church supremo Cardinal Mar George Alencherry.
The remand report submitted by the investigating officers to the court on Tuesday stated that the documents were forged to defame the Cardinal. Adithya, who is the third accused in the case, however, has now claimed that the police tortured him into accepting the offence.
An IIT Madras graduate, Adithya was arrested after Cardinal Alencherry filed a complaint that the former forged some financial documents against him. According to the remand report, the alleged fake documents feature Cardinal Alencherry’s account statements showing transactions of lakhs of rupees to other accounts, including Rs 8.9 lakh to Lulu Convention Centre, Rs 16 lakh to Marriott Courtyard hotel and Rs 85,000 to Marriott Lulu hotel.
According to reports, Adithya also gave a statement to the court that he was under pressure from the police to confess to the crime. On reporting that Adithya was beaten up by the police, the court sent him for a medical examination at Kalamassery Medical College. Adithya, who addressed the media after the medical check-up, alleged that he was beaten up by the police.
Rift in Church
On Monday, a faction of bishops of Syro Malabar Catholic Church, who are led by Bishop Jacob Manathodath, the administrator of the Ernakulam – Angamaly archdiocese and appointed by Pope Francis, came out in support of Adithya. At a press meet in Kochi, the bishops also accused the police of trying to protect some ‘top’ persons in the church.
According to the official statement released by the Ernakulam – Angamaly archdiocese, Adithya, who was working in a financial organisation in Kochi, happened to see some money transaction documents involving the name of Cardinal Alencherry. Adithya then allegedly took screenshots of the documents and mailed it to Father Paul Thalekkat, a priest he knew in the church. Father Paul Thalekkat then transferred it secretly to Bishop Jacob Manathodath, the administrator of the archdiocese.
“This was then given to Cardinal George Alencherry and since the truth about this was not known to us, it was disclosed only at the synod or council of the Syro Malabar church on January 2019,” said the bishops.
The bishops have also demanded a CBI probe into the fake document case.
Meanwhile, the police have also named two priests of the church, Father Paul Thalekkat and Father Antony Tony Kalukkaran, as the first and fourth accused in the case respectively. They have not been arrested.
Land deal case against Cardinal stayed
Incidentally, the Cardinal himself is one of the 25 accused in an alleged land deal case involving the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro Malabar Church. A case was registered against him in April.
Now, according to reports, the Ernakulam district court stayed the trial on Tuesday until a decision is taken in the revision petition submitted by the Cardinal.
In 2016, the Ernakulam Archdiocese had sold a three-acre piece of land in Kochi to repay its bank loan worth Rs 60 crore. The agent, who was appointed by the church to assist in the deal, had estimated the value of the land at just Rs 27.30 crore, which the local residents and many priests in the church claimed to be low. According to them, the land would cost at least Rs 80 crore.