The Kalpetta Principal Sessions Court in Wayanad has acquitted all the accused, including tribal leader M. Geethanandan, in the case related to the alleged murder of police constable K.V. Vinod during the Muthanga land agitation in 2003. The court delivered its verdict on Friday, July 31, 2026. However, Geethanandan was convicted of criminal conspiracy in a related case.
The court observed that it was the second accused, Ashokan, who died during the course of the trial, who had inflicted a wound on Vinod. However, as he died during the course of the trial, the proceedings against him abated, and he could not be convicted. The court found another person, Binu, guilty of attempting to murder another police officer, Abdul Salam. Besides Geethanandan, Rameshan and Anilkumar were also convicted of criminal conspiracy.
The case pertains to events on February 19, 2003, when armed police and forest officials moved into the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary to forcibly evict hundreds of landless indigenous families. The tribal families had occupied reserved forest land under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), demanding long-promised land distribution. According to the CBI’s chargesheet, constable Vinod and a forest officer were captured during clashes at Thakarappadi in the Gowdanvayal area.
Prosecution lawyers argued that Vinod was dragged into a makeshift shed and subjected to severe physical assault while he was held in illegal captivity by protesters resisting eviction. Though eventually rescued by police forces, Vinod succumbed to critical injuries. The clash also resulted in the death of a tribal protester, Jogi, who was allegedly killed in police firing.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Pronouncing the verdict, Judge E. Ayyoobkhan noted the prosecution had failed to prove the conspiracy and the case beyond reasonable doubt. Defence counsel T.M. Rasheed challenged the CBI chargesheet, arguing that no direct eyewitnesses were present inside the shed when the alleged assault occurred.
Journalists, bystanders, and key witnesses were stationed over 50 metres away, where visibility was severely obscured by tear gas canisters, smoke, and continuous gunfire. Of the 57 accused in the murder case, 15 passed away due to age or illness before the verdict delivered, and only 42 stood the trial.
