THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will approach the Centre once again, seeking a CBI probe into the custodial death of Neyyattinkara native Sreejeev.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the chief secretary to write to the Central government in this regard. The Chief Minister’s Office said the government had a favourable stand towards the protest staged by Sreejeev’s brother Sreejith in front of the Secretariat. On Saturday, Sreejith’s protest entered the 766th day.
The Police Complaints Authority had issued a detailed order on May 17, 2016. After the LDF came to power, the home department issued a follow-up order on September 3.
The family of the deceased was given a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and the state police chief was asked to collect the amount from the accused officers. A special investigation team headed by the state police chief had started a probe, but it was stayed by the High Court following a petition by the accused officers. On June 8, 2017, the state government issued a notification for the CBI to take over the case.
The notification was sent to the Centre on July 18. On January 3, the government received a reply rejecting the request. The CBI cited that the case does not come under the rarest of rare category and heavy workload as the reasons.