THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sreejith, who is staging an indefinite protest in front of the Secretariat seeking justice for his brother Sreejeev who died in police custody in 2014, has decided to continue his protest though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met him on Monday. Sreejith said he would end the protest once the CBI officially takes over the case.
After meeting the Chief Minister at the Secretariat, Sreejith told reporters that he wanted a written assurance from the government that the CBI had taken over the investigation. “The Chief Minister has extended support to my protest. But I won’t end the protest until the CBI takes over the probe. Primarily, we want to vacate the stay issued by the High Court against the findings of the State Police Complaints Authority. The government has promised support on that front too,’’ Sreejith said.
Sreejith, his mother Ramani and his friends met the Chief Minister after the latter invited him to discuss the issue. Sources in the Chief Minister’s office said the government had extended all support for Sreejith’s protest. “The government will support Sreejith’s move to approach the High Court to vacate the stay order on the Police Complaints Authority’s findings,” the CMO said.
Tharoor, KC Venugopal meet Union Ministers
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday pressed for a CBI inquiry into the death of Sreejeev. He, along with AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, met Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh, demanding the inquiry. They also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The Police Complaints Authority, then headed by Justice P Narayana Kurup, had concluded that there were serious lapses on the part of the police. The authority’s finding was that police torture had indeed taken place.
At Monday’s meeting with Sreejith, the Chief Minister assured him they had already given instructions to the Advocate General to speed up the proceedings to get the stay order vacated.
The CM also instructed state police chief Loknath Behera to take action against certain police personnel who allegedly tried to harass Sreejith’s family after the police complaints authority submitted a report against the police, the CMO said. Sreejith’s mother Ramani had lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister in this regard.
In a Facebook post, the Chief Minister said: “My heart is with the struggle undertaken by Sreejith demanding a CBI investigation into his brother’s death. The demands made by that family is just. The government will do everything to meet the demands. The government will offer support to Sreejith.”
Sreejith’s mother meets Governor
T’Puram: Sreejith’s mother Ramani Sreedharan met Governor P Sathasivam, seeking justice in the custodial death of her son Sreejeev. Panakkad Munaivar Ali Thangal and IUML district president professor Thonnakkal Jamal accompanied Ramani. “The meeting was highly fruitful and ended on a positive note. The Governor extended his support to address the grievances of Sreejith,” said professor Thonnakkal Jamal. “Sathasivam has sought the documents pertaining to the issue and the background details,” said Vijeesh, one of the protesters who undertook a hunger strike along with Sreejith on Monday.
VS writes to Rajnath Singh
T’Puram: Administrative Reforms Commission chairman V S Achuthanandan on Monday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanding his intervention to order a CBI probe into the death of Sreejeev. For more than two years now, Sreejeev’s elder brother Sreejith has been staging a strike outside the Secretariat demanding an probe by the Central agency, V S said. Sreejeev died in police custody during UDF rule in the state. Though his relatives had demanded a CBI probe at the time, they were mocked at by the then Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. “I had demanded a CBI probe back then,” said V S. Though the current LDF government requested the Centre to engage the CBI for this case, the CBI had refused to take it up.