Kalpetta: A court in Wayanad on Friday acquitted all the accused in the case relating to the death of police constable K.V. Vinod during the Muthanga land agitation in 2003, bringing an end to the 23-year-old trial.

The Kalpetta Principal District and Special Court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the guilt of the remaining accused or establish the alleged conspiracy behind Vinod's murder.

The court found that the second accused, Ashokan, was responsible for inflicting the fatal injuries that led to Vinod's death. However, as Ashokan died during the course of the trial, no sentence was pronounced against him.

Meanwhile, in a separate but related case arising from the Muthanga incident, the court convicted four people for the attempted murder of Abdul Salam. Those found guilty were Geethanandan, Binu, Ramesh Koyyalipura and Anil Kumar, while the remaining 53 accused were acquitted.

The verdict comes more than two decades after the violence that erupted during the Muthanga land agitation.

The protest began in January 2003 when Adivasi families, led by the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, set up huts inside the Muthanga forests demanding land rights.

On February 19, 2003, clashes broke out when police moved to evict the protesters. During the violence, Constable Vinod, attached to the Kannur KAP Fourth Battalion, was taken hostage and hacked. He later succumbed to his injuries while being taken to hospital after being rescued.

An Adivasi youth, Jogi, was also killed in police firing during the eviction.

The case was initially investigated by the local police before being transferred to the Crime Branch and later to the Chennai unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Following a Kerala High Court order, the trial was shifted from the CBI Special Court in Ernakulam to the Wayanad Sessions Court.

The accused had faced charges including murder and criminal conspiracy, with the chargesheet also alleging that two of them had inflicted grievous injuries on Vinod. However, the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish these charges against the surviving accused beyond reasonable doubt.