The Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to a petition seeking a probe by the agency into the death of a youth, Sreejeev, 27, allegedly in police custody.
The petition seeking CBI probe was filed by Ramani Prameela, mother of Sreejeev, a native of Neyyattinkara.
She alleged that investigation by the police into the custodial death of her son on May 21, 2014 was not proper. He was taken into the custody by the Parassala police on May 19, 2014. The police had claimed that Sreejeev died after he consumed a highly toxic insecticide.
When the petition came up for hearing, senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy submitted that the State government had issued orders transferring the case to the CBI. The Additional Chief Secretary on July 8, 2017 had written a letter to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, requesting to entrust the investigation with the CBI.
As the Centre replied that the CBI could not take up the investigation, the Chief Secretary again sent a letter to the Centre in January 2018.
It said since the allegations against the police were serious and that a young man had lost his life, the government had decided to refer the case to the CBI. The response was awaited.
Ms. Ramani Prameela pointed out that the Police Complaints Authority had found that Sreejeev died due to custodial torture.
