The State police are planning to constitute a fresh team of the Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department to further probe the controversial case of the killing of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) leader C.T. Manoj, alias Choriyanchalil Manoj, at Payyoli here early this year.
Reliable sources said here on Wednesday that Crime Branch (Hurt and Homicide Wing) Superintendent of Police Shamsudheen Illikkal had written to State Police Chief K.S. Balasubramanian regarding the constitution of a new team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police to further investigate the case under Section 173 (8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The development comes in the wake of allegations that the accused had been falsely implicated in the case, the sources said.
Earlier, the Kozhikode Additional District and Sessions Court had called a halt to the trial in the case after Crime Branch Circle Inspector E.K. Prithiviraj stated that the State government had ordered a further probe after M. Pushpa, wife of the deceased, petitioned the government seeking a comprehensive and impartial probe into the death of her husband.
The case pertained to the killing of Manoj, 40, who was hacked to death by a masked gang, allegedly workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-(M)] in his house at Payyoli in front of his wife on February 12. He succumbed to his injuries at the Government Medical College Hospital, here, the following day.
The trial in the case was scheduled to begin on October 30 and to be completed by November 22 in compliance with the directions of the High Court of Kerala. There were 15 accused in the case and the court had framed the charge sheet against 14 of them.
However, six remand prisoners moved petitions in the court expressing their willing to undergo narco-analysis tests to prove their innocence, and praying that the case should be reinvestigated to bring out the truth. The accused had said that they had surrendered before the local police during the stages of investigation based on party instructions, but later failed to get any legal assistance from it.
The first accused, Ajith Kumar, was secretary of the CITU Autorickshaw Thozhilali Union, Payyoli, and president, town unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India; the second accused Jithesh, secretary, Payyoli village unit of the DYFI; and the third accused Vadakkayil Biju, joint secretary, Payyoli unit of the DYFI.
But the court rejected their pleas saying that “mere statements of the accused that they were not involved is not sufficient to order further investigation.”
It also said that the narco-analysis test did not have any evidentiary value and it could not be relied upon to prove whether the accused were guilty or not.
