The CBI team probing the custodial death of Sampath filed supplementary chargesheet against seven more policemen, excluding two IPS officials against whom probe was carried out. However, the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Monday returned the chargesheet citing technical errors.
The chargesheet named seven policemen, including a Circle Inspector. All the policemen, except the then CI Vipindas, were charged with murder. The CBI gave a clean chit to two IPS officials - the then SP of Palakkad Vijay Sakhare and the then Thrissur Range IG B S Muhammed Yasin.
“However, we have recommended departmental action against the two IPS officials for lack of proper monitoring of the case and lapse in preserving evidence,” said investigating officer S Jai Kumar, ASP, CBI.
The case was earlier probed by a team headed by ASP Haridath, who was later found dead at his house. The seven accused, named in the chargesheet are civil police officers Johnson Lobo, T J Brijith, Shillan and P A Abdul Rasheed, Assistant sub-inspector K Ramachandran, head constable Madhavan and CI Vipindas. The accused are charged under IPC 302 (Murder), 342 (Wrongful confinement), 218 (Public servant framing incorrect record or writing with the intent to save a person from punishment or property from forfeiture) and 348 (Wrongful confinement to extort confession).
The CBI also charged section 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) against Rasheed and Madhavan. Vipindas has been charged for abatement, causing disappearance of evidence and framing incorrect record. The CBI had earlier chargesheeted four cops - the then DySP C K Ramachandran, SI T N Unnikrishnan, SI P V Ramesh, civil police officer Shyama Parasad and another person Binu Ittoop of Palakkad. The agency in its chargesheet submitted before the court that Samapth was subjected to inhuman torture and died in police custody on March 29, 2010. The accused carried out third- degree custodial torture on Samapth at a river side cottage in Malampuzha.
“The accused hit Sampath with elbows on his back, kicked with shoes and punched with hard objects like cement blocks, bricks, coconut shells etc. Iron rods were rolled over the body mercilessly. Later, Sampath was suspended in air after locking his hands from behind, and made him hanging on a rope using a pulley in the hook of the fan and pulled his body up and down using the rope,” the chargesheet said.
