The Hindu : FSL blast: Lok Ayukta admits PIL

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 17, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

FSL blast: Lok Ayukta admits PIL

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Dec. 16.

The State Lok Ayukta has admitted a public interest petition(PIL) seeking an explanation from the Government regarding the delay in filing a chargesheet in the case relating to the explosion which took place in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) here on March 21, 1995.

The petition, which was filed by V. K. Venkitachalam, a resident of Thrissur, on behalf of a public interest organisation, Media Listeners' Association, has named the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police as the respondents. The Upa Lok Ayukta, V. Bhaskaran, posted the case for further orders on January 22.

As many as 123 material objects (MOs) including blood-stained clothes, skulls and drug samples which constituted evidence material in 81 cases, as well as a large number of files, had been destroyed in the blast, the petition said.

The Rajendra Babu Commission, which was appointed in May 1995, to probe the incident, had examined more than 50 witnesses in about 130 sittings spread over three years, the petition said.

The commission's final report stated that circumstantial evidence clearly pointed to foul play and sabotage aimed at destroying material evidence in several important and sensational cases. The FSL blast took place a few months before the CBI took over the investigation of the Chekannur Moulavi murder case from the Crime Branch. There were reports that valuable evidence relating to the murder of the Chekannur Moulavi was destroyed in the blast, the petition said.

The post-mortem report of a dead body which was obtained from Wadackancherry in Thrissur district in 1993 had also been destroyed in the blast. It was suspected that the body obtained from Wadackancherry was that of the Moulavi.

The FSL Director, Muraleedharan Pillai, had submitted before the commission that months before the blast, the then DGP had asked him over telephone that a list of actual pending cases on the list as on October 21, 1994, be forwarded to him (the DGP).

On the suggestion of the Rajendra Babu Commission, a police team had been set up in September, 1997, to look into the sabotage angle behind the blast and to identify the suspects.

The team had submitted its report to the Government and the Government in turn placed it before the Assembly on December 18, 2000.

Though more than seven years had passed since the blast occurred and Governments headed by both the UDF and LDF had ruled the State during this period, the public still did not know the truth behind the incident.

The very purpose of setting up the commission of inquiry had been defeated as the FSL blast remained a mystery, the petition said.

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