In yet another setback in the investigation into the mysterious death of Sathish Kumar, son of noted advocate R Sankarasubbu, the Special Investigation Team called off the search in the ICF Lake after a day-long operation on Tuesday.
Kumar went missing on June 7, 2011 and his body was fished out from the lake on June 13 after Sankarasubbu filed a Habeas Corpus Petition in the High Court.
The team, which is probing the two-year-old case, began investigation in the lake by engaging four divers from a private company on Tuesday morning. While the team had initially planned to conduct the search for 15 days across the lake for any possible evidence, on Tuesday evening, it decided to call off the operation due to practical difficulties. “Based on the opinion of the experts, who conducted the search, we have decided to call off the operation due to poor visibility underwater. During the day-long search also, we were not able to get any evidence. Because of the huge amount of slush in the lake bed, it is impossible to recover any material evidence, if at all present,” said Superintendent of Police S Mani.
The SIT was handed over the investigation in the case after the CBI filed a report to the Madras High Court last December stating that Kumar’s death was a suicide. “The deceased person’s bike was spotted on the road near the north side of the lake. His body was found on the south side. So we decided to thoroughly search the lake hoping to get any material evidence that can be a vital clue for the investigation. The experts also carried cameras inside the water to record any possible evidence. But due to poor visibility, we have to give up the search mid-way,” said Mani.
However, he was hopeful to take other leads in the case. “This was one of the options available. We also have several other leads in the case which we would pursue,” he said.