THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “My son was murdered by someone. It was not an accident. My son needs justice,” said R Vasanthakumari, mother of journalist S V Pradeep who was killed in a road accident at Karakkamandapam in Thiruvananthapuram last month. She said this during the one-day hunger strike organised by an action council seeking justice for Pradeep, in front of Secretariat on Wednesday. Vasanthakumari could not control her emotions while speaking to the media during the strike.
“A CBI probe is the need of the hour. We have lost faith in the investigation of state police. The police changed charges from Section 302 (Murder) to Section 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the driver. It is unacceptable. My son had many enemies due to his brave journalism. He never accepted any freebies from anyone for protecting anyone’s interests.
He was trapped and betrayed in a honey trap case. But he came back strongly and continued his work. I am a retired school teacher. So he was brought up in an environment where truth gets more prominence. Now, my son has passed away. I became an orphan and no one there to do the duty of last rites when I die. I pray to God that this situation should not come to any mother in future,” Vasanthakumari said.
The strike was inaugurated by P T Thomas, MLA. Though former chief minister Oommen Chandy was slated to inaugurate the strike, he could not turn up. “Truth will come out only if CBI probes the case. The state police cannot do anything. The investigation team has not inspected the two-wheelers which travelled along with Pradeep’s scooter, so far.
It is suspicious. Pradeep had enemies. So the police should have probed the conspiracy angle. Two mediapersons were killed in accidents in the city under mysterious circumstances. The government and police had done nothing to bring out the truth,” Thomas said. BJP state secretary S Suresh, relatives, friends of Pradeep and action council members also spoke on the occasion.
The police probing the case on Wednesday released more CCTV visuals of the accident. R Prathapan Nair, Fort Assistant Commissioner of Police, on Wednesday said that the police are trying to get the whereabouts of the people who travelled on the two scooters near Pradeep’s two-wheeler. “We are collecting details. We released the visuals so that these people could voluntarily come forward. So we are waiting for that and further probe will be done accordingly,” Nair said.