A special investigation team (SIT), formed to probe the Anchery Baby murder case, has sought two more months’ time for completing the investigation in which M M Mani, former Idukki CPM district secretary, is the prime accused.
DySP A U Anilkumar of Kottayam Crime Detachment Wing filed the statement in response to a petition by Mani seeking to waive the bail condition.
The High Court had ordered that he should not enter the limits of Idukki district, except for reporting before the investigating officer in the case between 9 am and 10 pm every Friday.
Mani was granted bail in the case relating to the murder of Anchery Baby, a Youth Congress leader.
He was shot dead on November 13, 1982. The government had formed the SIT after Mani made a public speech at Manakkad, near Thodupuzha, in which he claimed that the party had a hit list of 13 persons, and three of them had been killed. Mani was arraigned as the second accused in the case registered by the Santhanpara police. The court recently granted interim relief for Mani to attend a marriage function in Idukki district. The police submitted that Mani was a powerful politician and even in his absence, he was remotely controlling the party administration in the district.
This was evident from the reception accorded to him when the High Court granted him permission to visit his home. Most of the witnesses were keeping silence, afraid of the political influence of the petitioner, even though he had not entered Idukki district. If the petitioner were allowed free entry, it would be detrimental to the smooth conduct of investigation. The investigation officer undertook that every effort would be made to complete the investigation in two months.
The statement said more witnesses should be located and questioned. The driver of the jeep in which body of Anchery Baby was transported has to be questioned. He is now in Chennai. Two more persons present at the scene have to be identified.