MANNARKKADU: Witnesses turning hostile in Attappady Madhu murder case continued yesterday also when four witnesses changed their statements in court. Incidentally, the court had given stern warnings against those witnesses who were turning hostile in the murder case.

Those who turned hostile are, Manaf, Renjith, Manikandan and Anoop. They were the 32nd, 33rd, 34th, and 35th witnesses respectively. The four witnesses earlier gave the statement that they reached Vandikadavu in a jeep after learning that the accused Biju and others had gone to grab Madhu. Their statement says that they saw them bringing the victim Madhu. However, yesterday they changed their statements and said that they did not know the accused people.

Meanwhile, the Mannarkkad SC/ST Special Court cross examined the 29th witness, Sunil Kumar again. The court again showed the visuals to Sunil Kumar. When the three visuals were shown to him, he changed his statement and said that the person in the visual is someone who resembles him. The prosecution plea to wait till the report of Sunil Kumar’s eye test is submitted was rejected by the court. The court will take up the plea of the prosecution to take action against Sunil Kumar, today.

Initially, Sunil Kumar had given the statement to the police that he had seen the accused bringing Madhu and capturing the visuals while calling him a thief. The court then allowed the prosecution plea to produce the video of the same in court. In the visuals it is clear that Sunil Kumar is watching the accused bringing the victim Madhu and assaulting him. However, Sunil Kumar told the court that he is not able to see anything. The court then intervened and ordered that his eyesight be checked and report submitted.

The Palakkad hospital checked Sunil Kumar’s eyesight and reported that there was no problem.