Former minister Antony Raju found guilty in infamous evidence tampering case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Antony Raju, the former minister and current MLA, was found guilty in the evidence tampering case that took place 34 years ago. The Nedumangad Judicial First Class Magistrate Court has found Antony Raju guilty. The former minister was the second accused in the case.

The charges against the former minister can carry a sentence of up to life imprisonment. Antony Raju has been found guilty of charges including conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The court has also found the first accused, KS Jose, guilty. The CJM court will announce the sentence soon. Antony Raju was found guilty of six crucial sections, namely 409, 120B, 420, 201, 193, 34, 217, and 465.

According to the case:

Australian citizen Andrew Salvatore was arrested at the Thiruvananthapuram airport with 60 grams of hashish on April 4, 1990. In a bid to help him, the accused hid the mainour inside the innerwear.

Antony Raju, an advocate at the Vanchiyoor court in Thiruvananthapuram, along with his senior advocate. Celine Wilfred took over Andrew's defense. The Vanchiyoor court sentenced the accused to ten years in prison. However, Andrew obtained a favourable verdict from the High Court. The court acquitted Andrew after accepting the defense's argument that the innerwear and other items did not belong to the accused.

Later, while serving a sentence in another case in Australia, Andrew revealed to a fellow inmate that he had escaped by forging the Mainour in India. The fellow inmate told the Australian police about this detail. Interpol then passed the information on to the CBI and it was later passed on to the Kerala Police. After investigating officer CI KK Jayamohan approached the High Court, a fresh investigation was conducted into the evidence tampering case. The first accused is klark Jose, who sold the Mainour to Antony Raju.