KOCHI: The Crime Branch on Monday approached the Kerala High Court for more time to complete the investigation into the alleged misuse of postal ballots meant for the police personnel on election duty.
The statement was submitted in response to a petition filed by the Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala seeking a directive to the Election Commission to appoint an independent commission to inquire into the alleged fraud.
In the statement, the investigating officer said as many as 16 witnesses had been questioned and their statements recorded so far. The accused Vaishakh, a commando attached to the Indian Reserve Battalion, who circulated a voice clip instructing his colleagues to hand over their postal ballots to him in the WhatsApp group called- ‘Sree Padmanabha’, was questioned in detail and the mobile phone used by him was seized.
The group was created for official communication among commandos of Indian Reserve Battalion deployed for security duty at Sree Padmanabha Swami Temple, Thiruvananthapuram.
Voice sample for forensic analysis
An application was submitted before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court to summon the accused and obtain his consent for collecting his voice sample for forensic analysis. The team also questioned civil police officers - Manikuttan, Arun Mohan, Ratheesh and Rajesh Kumar. The mobile phone of Manikuttan was also seized.
According to the Crime Branch, verification of original Form 13 A, 13 B and 13 C was necessary to find out whether any fraud was committed in the postal ballots. The Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch issued a letter to the concerned Returning Officers (RO) of all the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies, who in turn sent it to the 140 Assistant Returning Officers for furnishing the details. So far, only 56 officers have responded. The ROs have replied that permission of the Chief Electoral Officer was necessary for providing the details.
A comprehensive investigation and enquiry will take more time, said Crime Branch. Hence, the CB has requested the court to grant sufficient time to complete the probe. The court adjourned the case to June 18.