Why is the Oommen Chandy-led government, which is so particular about reinvestigating criminal cases of the past, shying away from initiating a probe on P.J. Kurien’s role in Suryanelli sex scandal?
The question is from M.M. Mani, former Idukki district secretary and present State committee member of CPI(M), who is facing a further investigation on his role in murder cases reported in the eighties.
The girl, who was raped by over a period of 40 days, had named Mr. Kurien, who is presently Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, as an accused, Mr. Mani told The Hindu over the phone. “With the girl sticking to her allegation, it should be reinvestigated,” Mr. Mani said. He said he met and talked to the girl on a couple of occasions.
“This is not just Kurien, anyone who has been named by the girl should be brought under the new investigation,” he said. However, he did not remember the girl naming anyone other than Mr. Kurien, who was omitted from the list by the probe team led by Sibi Mathews.
Mr. Mani refuted the media reports that Mr. Kurien had approached him for help and also the allegation made by Mr. Kurien himself that he had cooked up false witness during the investigation. “I did not make any one give false statement to trap him. All I know is what the girl has told me,” he said.
The UDF-government had formed an investigation team for further probe into murders after Mr. Mani made a claim in a speech that those murders were committed after preparing a hit-list.
