KOCHI: The Special CBI Court in Kochi has sought a report from the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court over the disappearance of a crucial piece of evidence, a blood-stained towel, in the murder of NDF activist Mohammed Fasal in 2006.
In its recent directive, the CBI court added that further course of action, including the possibility of an investigation, would be decided after examining the CJM court’s report.
The towel, kept in a sealed cover, went missing from the CJM court’s custody. The court records reportedly noted on the cover that it was “taken away by rats.”
The matter came to light after the CBI court, which is conducting the trial, asked the evidence to be produced. A subsequent check revealed it had gone missing.
As per the prosecution, the towel was a crucial piece of evidence. The investigators had alleged that after the murder, the towel was planted near the house of an RSS worker at Andalloor to frame RSS activists for the killing.
The disappearance raises serious concerns as the case involves prominent CPM leaders, including Karayi Rajan and Karayi Chandrasekharan, who are among the eight persons booked. The CPM leaders are accused of criminal conspiracy. If convicted, Karayi Rajan could lose his MLA position.
First political murder given to the CBI
Fasal, an NDF activist and newspaper distributor, was hacked to death near Saidar Mosque in Thalassery on October 22, 2006, during Ramzan. The killing had triggered a political controversy in Kannur.
The case later became the first political murder case from Kannur district to be handed over to the CBI for investigation.
As per the prosecution, Fasal, a former CPM activist who later joined the NDF, was targeted by a CPM-linked criminal gang that allegedly included notorious accused Kodi Suni.
The case also drew attention due to allegations that attempts were made to divert suspicion towards RSS activists by planting blood-stained material near their residences.