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Marad panel mooted CBI probe: Kodiyeri

Staff Reporter

Centre had turned down two pleas by the State
Minister asks why Centre feared such an inquiry

Thiruvananthapuram: Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said here on Tuesday that the Thomas Joseph Commission had suggested in its detailed report an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to find out whether there was a “larger conspiracy” behind the Marad communal killings. The State government had hence decided to ask for such an investigation.

Speaking to presspersons, he said the State did not want the CBI to reinvestigate the Marad killings as a whole because the crime angle of the case was already committed for trial. He said the Union government had turned down two pleas by the State requesting CBI inquiry into the conspiracy angle. He asked why the Centre feared such an inquiry.

Helmet rule

Mr. Kodiyeri said the police have been instructed not to inconvenience two-wheeler riders, chiefly families and women, under the excuse of enforcing the use of helmets. This did not mean that those riding two-wheelers without the protective headgear would go scot-free. The police would note down the vehicle numbers of such errant riders and also motorists who did not wear seatbelts and send them notices to appear before the police or the court. The government might even consider not renewing the licences of those who continuously repeated the offence, the Minister said.

Additional Director-General Police, South Zone, V.R. Rajeevan, said only traffic policemen would enforce the use of helmets. They had been instructed not to stop two-wheeler riders on the side of bends and curves on the road.

Mr. Kodiyeri said that the government had issued no direction asking the police to desist from checking vehicles at random on the roads.

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