KOCHI: Suspended Sub Inspector K A Sabu, who is the first accused in the Nedumkandam custodial death case, on Monday submitted before the Kerala High Court that deceased Rajkumar was arrested and detained on the orders of Kattappana DySP and Idukki SP. Sabu made the revelation in his bail petition.
When the petition came up for hearing, Justice B Sudheendra Kumar asked the petitioner who had tortured the deceased brutally while in custody. Further, the court sought the state government’s view.
In his bail petition, Sabu said as a disciplined officer he had obeyed the directives of superior officers. Superiors were given regular updates on the search and the information regarding the investigation.
He said he had not illegally detained Rajkumar of his own will. It was done as per the directions of senior officials.
Besides, the deceased was examined by the doctors three times before he was produced before the Magistrate Court concerned. Rajkumar did not then raise any allegation of assault by the petitioner or other officers. Moreover, the certificates issued by the doctors showed that the deceased had difficulty in walking. No injuries were recorded.
After the incident, some of the officers at the Peermade Sub-Jail were suspended and transferred to other places. This clearly indicated the role of jail authorities in the crime.
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Meanwhile, when the petition seeking a CBI probe into the custodial death came up for hearing, the High Court asked the prosecution to furnish the reports, including that of the re-postmortem. The petition was filed by Rajkumar wife and children.