‘Probe agencies erred in khazi case’

A people’s commission of inquiry that looked into the death of C.M. Abdulla Moulavi, popularly known as Chembarika Khazi, from Kasaragod, has claimed that the local police, crime branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had not done their job properly.

The moulavi, the khazi of his native Chembirikka in Kasaragod and Mangaluru in Karnataka, was found drowned in the sea near his residence on February 15, 2010. He was the vice-president of the Sunni scholars’ forum, the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema. The CBI, in its closure report, had said that the moulavi might have committed suicide while ruling out the possibility of murder.

The commission comprised People’s Union of Civil Liberties State Secretary P.A. Pouran, human rights activist Elsa George, and social activist T.V. Rajendran. They told the media here on Tuesday, quoting forensic experts Sherly Vasu and M.R. Chandran, that the moulavi must have been attacked with a lethal weapon. The inquest and post-mortem procedures had not been conducted properly, the forensic experts had told the commission.