Strong rooms of Kerala are not so strong; 10 sandalwood idols missing

Close on the heels of a theft of over 100 sovereign gold ornaments and other valuables from the strong room of a court in Thiruvananthapuram, ten sandalwood idols, worth lakhs of rupees in the grey market, are reported missing from a strong room of the Kerala forest department.

The security of the strong rooms, where evidence in cases are kept, often come under question in Kerala. Even the present Transport Minister Antony Raju, who was a practising lawyer, faced the allegation of tampering with an underwear that was crucial evidence in a drug-peddling case.

A fire in a court room in Kollam district in 2009 and a robbery at an evidence store room of a local court in Thiruvananthapuram in 2008 were also alleged to be an attempt to tamper with the evidence of some murder cases.

In the latest incident, nine Ganesha idols and one Buddha idol, seized by the forest department's intelligence wing in 2016, were found missing from the strong rooms of the forest department where valuables like ivory and sandalwood are stored. The disappearance of idols came to light after the court asked forest officials to produce the idols that are evidence in the illegal trade case. Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran has ordered an investigation into it.

Recently, 105 sovereigns of gold, 140 grams of silver and Rs 47,000 in cash were found stolen from a court room at Thiruvananthapuram district collectorate. Most of the stolen items were those recovered from persons suffering unnatural deaths that need to be returned to the legal heirs after the court proceedings are over. A former senior superintendent, Sreekantan Nair, who was in charge of the strong room, was held for the robbery which came to light after the dependents of a person who died in unnatural circumstances claimed the deceased person's jewellery.

The evidence tampering involving Kerala Minister Antony Raju took place in the 1990s. An Australian national was held for smuggling hashish by hiding in his underwear in 1990 through Thiruvananthapuram airport. But he was acquitted after Raju, who was his lawyer, argued that the underwear produced as evidence did not suit the accused. Later the police got information about the evidence tampering. His relatives allegedly bribed officials in charge of the courtroom. The police later initiated a fresh probe and Raju was also charge-sheeted. But the case is still pending trial.

Kerala former law secretary K Sasidharan Nair said that as the number of cases keeps on increasing day by day, a proper system to keep the material and documentary evidence was also becoming very crucial apart from ensuring the safety. The issue needs to be considered seriously as disappearance of evidence would affect in ensuring justice, he said.