State Police Chief Jacob Punnoose has said that political pressure has not and will never influence the investigation being conducted into the murder to Revolutionary Maxist Party leader T.P. Chandrasekharan.
Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, Mr. Punnoose sought to dispel claims that pressure exerted by various quarters had led to the release of C. Babu, office secretary in the CPI(M) area committee at Koothuparamba, after he was taken into custody. “The person had been taken into custody for interrogation. He was charged under Section 212 (harbouring offender) of the Indian Penal Code which is a bailable offence. It was indeed not any political pressure that had led to his freedom. Such factors will not play roles in leading to the bail of any accused in the case,” he said.
Reacting to allegations that have questioned the integrity of Special Investigation Team probing the murder case, Mr. Punnoose said, ”Occupying the position of the State Police Chief, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on various extraneous issues pertaining to the case. However, the police department is conducting a broad investigation on the case. We are ensuring that the probe in being conducted in an impartial and truthful manner. The members of the Special Investigation Team have also upheld the integrity of the investigation and there is no cause for concern in neither its progress nor its direction.”
He added that the investigation was following its due course in which the progress is being closely monitored by high-ranking officers of the police department. “Ours is a systematic approach that involves using a clue to find another and so on until the truth is unravelled,” Mr. Punnoose pointed out.
