Former Kerala transport minister Antony Raju found guilty of evidence tampering in 1990 drug case

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3 (PTI) A court here on Saturday found former Kerala transport minister Antony Raju guilty of tampering with evidence in a drug seizure case booked in 1990.

Raju is a serving MLA of Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, an LDF member.

The Nedumangad Judicial First Class Magistrate convicted Raju in connection with the seizure of 61.5 grams of hashish from an Australian citizen at Thiruvananthapuram international airport in 1990.

Raju, who was then a junior lawyer, had appeared for the accused in the case.

While a sessions court had initially convicted the accused, Andre Salvatore Cervelli, he was later acquitted by the Kerala High Court in 1991.

The acquittal was based on the defence argument that the innerwear in which the contraband was allegedly concealed was too small to fit the accused.

A subsequent probe revealed that Raju, along with a court official named Jose, had conspired to tamper with the material evidence kept in the magistrate's court, the prosecution said. PTI TBA TBA ADB