Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jul 25: Hearing in the case of the 'Adi Udupi Naked Parading' case that kicked up lot of controversy all over the state, has concluded in the fast track court here. The judgment is reserved for July 29.

The incident had made people from the district hang their heads in shame. It is alleged that the Udupi police as well as the Cops of Detectives team which investigated the case, have made all out efforts to protect those involved in the crime. A total of 13 persons have been named as accused in the chargesheet pertaining to this case.

The CoD police have claimed that a negative of a photo of the nude persons, who were forced to shed their clothes by a mob, which was considered as the prime piece of evidence, has been lost. The CoD team produced only reports about the incident as appeared in the media and photos in the court, withholding the said negative. The people feel that this was a strategy aimed at protecting the accused persons.

CoD officers Girijapati and Pratap were deputed by the state government after the CoD took over the case in tune with the government's decision, after a furor broke out in the legislature over the blatant violation of human values by the perpetrators of this incident.

They have interrogated various persons concerned and made enquiries with people living around Adi Udupi helipad where the incident reportedly occured. Almost 33 witnesses including prime accused Kantu Poojary and Yashpal Suvarna were named as accused in the chargesheet. Out of those cited in the list, the court considered only 26 as prime witnesses and held trial. As Manoj Shetty, one of the accused, had died in an accident, his name was deleted from the list of accused persons.

The fast track court of Udupi which took over the hearing of the case in December 2007, examined all the 26 witnesses including Hajabba from Muloor and his son Hasanabba, who were paraded naked. The incident had occurred on March 13, 2005. Fast track court judge B S Gowda is set to pronounce the judgment in the case on July 29.

Advocate from Udupi Shantaram Shetty defended the case on behalf of the accused. Shekhar Bovi, who has recently taken over the case on behalf of the prosecution, is representing the prosecution.