THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI has filed a report with the Special Court here giving a clean chit to the police in connection with the alleged custodial death of a youth in 2014. The CBI report ruled out the custodial torture allegation and upheld the police claim that Sreejiv’s death was a case of suicide.
Sreejiv was taken into custody by Parassala police on May 19, 2014, in connection with a mobile phone theft case. He allegedly consumed Furadan while in custody and died on May 21, 2014, at the Medical College Hospital here. He was 27.
The report said the pesticide used for committing suicide was stored in a bag lying close to the lockup and accessible by Sreejiv, as opposed to the earlier claim which said he had hidden poison inside his underwear.
The CBI found serious errors on the part of police officers with the Parassala station, that Sreejiv’s physical examination was not done properly and suggested departmental action against former Inspector Gopakumar, SI Binukumar, and constables Mohanan and Anil Kumar for dereliction of duty.
Sources said CBI ruled out death due to custodial torture after examining the suicide letter reportedly written by Sreejiv. The genuineness of the letter was confirmed by the CBI. The case was handed over to CBI after massive protests rocked the city.
The CBI registered the FIR only after Sreejiv’s brother Sreejith had began an indefinite hunger protest in front of the Secretariat demanding justice for the family completed 775 days had gathered much clout. His hunger protest entered 1,364th day on Wednesday. The CBI Special Court will look into the report and take a final call soon.