Judicial magistrates appear as witnesses

COIMBATORE: Two judicial magistrates deposed in a court here on Thursday to be cross-examined as witnesses in the sensational murder of two siblings, that shook the textile city in 2010. In an exceptional case, the police had included the judicial magistrates as witnesses in the case relating to the kidnap and murder of the siblings - R Muskan Jain (10) and R Rithik Jain (8) -  by a van driver Mohana Krishnan and his friend Manoharan.The bodies were dumped in the Parambikulam-Aliyar-Project (PAP) canal  in Pollachi. The 10-year-old was also raped brutally before being killed. Judicial Magistrate L S Sathiyamurthy had recorded the confession statement of the lone surviving accused, Manoharan, while the identification parade of the accused was conducted in the presence of Judicial Magistrate C Deivam.On Thursday, the two judicial officers deposed before the first Additional District Judge N Shesasayee.Manoharan had made his confession before judicial magistrate Sathiyamurthy on Nov 19 and 20, 2010, 10 days after the prime-accused, Mohana Krishanan, was shot dead in an encounter. Manoharan’s defense counsel M Irudhayaraj argued that Manoharan was terrified after the encounter death of his aide and gave the confession statement due to police intimidation.However, Sathiyamurthy told the court that Manoharan was examined by him and there was not an iota of fear in him when he gave the statements. Similarly, C Deivam told the court about the identification parade, in which the grandmother of the victims, Kamalabhai, identified Mohana Krishnan as the driver of the van, which the children boarded that day. Special public prosecutor M Shankara Narayanan appeared for the State.