The BJP national secretary P.K. Krishnadas has accused the Congress and the CPI(M) of colluding with each other to derail the case investigation into the murder of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh leader C.T. Manoj alias Choriyanchalil Manoj at Payyoli here.
Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Krishnadas said that a report submitted by the State government in the High Court of Kerala expressing its willingness for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was a conspiracy hatched to hoodwink the public. The government had filed the report in response to a petition filed by Sajid , an autorickshaw driver at Payyoli, seeking a CBI probe in the case. Manoj, 40, an autorickshaw driver was hacked to death by a masked gang, allegedly workers of the CPI(M), in front of his wife and children at 9.30 p.m. on February 12, 2012. Previously, the police had framed charges against 14 accused and had also submitted a charge-sheet at the Kozhikode Additional Sessions Court.
Mr. Krishnadas said that the government which filed the report prepared by Crime Branch Circle Inspector E.P. Prithvirajan in the High Court was aimed at saving the accused in the case. The police officer had cited that an earlier investigation was inexplicable and that a probe by the CBI was necessary to unravel the conspiracy.
However, the conduct of the officer amounted to misleading the judiciary and the Home Department. The CPI (M) had cleverly used the service of the Crime Branch officer to sabotage the case. As such disciplinary action should be taken against him, the BJP leader demanded.
Incidentally K. T. Pushpa, wife of the victim had opposed a CBI probe stating that Sajid was a close associate of the first accused in the case and that he had filed the petition seeking for a CBI probe with the hidden motives of forestalling the criminal prosecution against the accused.
