Jail term for five

Thiruvananthapuram: Judicial First Class Magistrate-III F. Asheeda has sentenced five persons to six months imprisonment after she found them guilty of forcibly releasing a detainee from police custody and obstructing a uniformed police officer from discharging his duties.

Those convicted are Sasthamangalam Mohanan, Kaimanam Prabhakaran, a Municipal Corporation employee, Kattakada R.V. Rajesh, Vinod Sen, Municipal Councillor, Neyyatinkara, and D. Vinod Kumar of Pothencode. The magistrate also fined them Rs.1,000 each.

The prosecution case was that the accused trespassed into the Thampanoor police station on February 18, 2003, and forcibly released one Attipara Anil, who was arrested on the charge of violating traffic rules. The accused also prevented a police officer on duty from discharging his official function.