Kochi: Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who was interrogated for eight hours on Thursday, may be arrested on Friday after further questioning, it is learnt. The Vatican, meanwhile, announced that the bishop has been relieved from the pastoral responsibilities of Jalandhar diocese temporarily.
Possibly realising that his options were narrowing down, the bishop formally requested the Vatican to relieve him of the responsibilities. “Having considered all circumstances, the Holy Father has accepted this request from bishop Mulakkal and has appointed Rev Agenlo Rufino Gracias, auxiliary bishop of Mumbai, as apostolic administrator of Jalandhar diocese,” a statement said on Thursday.
The police, who questioned the bishop for eight hours on the second consecutive day at the Tripunithura Crime Branch office, allowed him to leave the station with the questioning set to continue on Friday. The bishop has undergone the quizzing for a total of 15 hours in two days.
The bishop, who stayed at a five-star hotel in Kochi on Wednesday night, reached the Tripunithura CB office at 11 a.m. Shortly after his arrival, the police team led by Kottayam superintendent of police Hari Sankar and Vaikom deputy superintendent of police K.Subhash started the interrogation at the hi-tech facility. The bishop left the place around 7 p.m.
Mr Hari Sankar told reporters that the bishop was served a notice to appear before the probe team at 10.30 a.m. on Friday. A decision on the further course of action would be taken based on the verification of his statements. “A detailed verification is needed for the statements given by the bishop. For this, three teams will examine them in detail and complete the verifications overnight,” he said.
The officer refused to answer when asked whether the bishop would be arrested on Friday. He said the interrogation was not over yet and that a decision on the arrest cannot be made half way through the process. “The arrest depends on the investigation, interrogation and the evidence collected. However, we hope that the interrogation will be completed by tomorrow,” he said.
However, it is learnt that he may be arrested after the interrogation on Friday. The officer said that an immediate decision could be taken once the questioning is completed. “The team is not rushing through the probe but making progress slowly by clarifying even minute details,” Mr. Sanker said.
