The Kerala High Court on Tuesday impleaded Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as additional respondent in a case relating to human trafficking at the Nedumbassery airport. The court will hear the CBI’s version on the take over of the probe from the Crime Branch.
Justice S.S. Satheesachandran observed that the government had approached the CBI after it issued a notification for handing over the probe to the agency. The court said that it was necessary to hear the reasons from the CBI for the delay in taking over the probe.
The court had earlier expressed its displeasure over the delay in handing over the case to the CBI.The judge issued the order while hearing the bail petition of Raju Mathew, sub-inspector at the immigration wing of the airport. The State government produced the notification giving consent for transferring of four cases to the CBI. The government had decided to hand over the case to the agency following a High Court observation.
The court had observed that the investigation carried out by the State police against the two accused was unlikely to have any desired result or would curb human trafficking.
The State police force did not have the wherewithal even to trace out the persons who had left the country without proper emigration clearance, it observed.
