KOCHI: The CBI on Thursday filed the chargesheet in the sensational Nedumkandam custodial murder case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court here. Nine police officers figure in the chargesheet which however doesn’t include the names of top-ranked police officers. However, investigation against them will continue. The case pertains to the death of a private financier in the lock-up of Nedumkandam station.
They include sub-inspector Sabu K A, 48, assistant sub-inspector Regimon C B, 50, police driver Niyas S, 35, police driver Sajeev Antony, 44, Home Guard James K M, 54, civil police officer Jithin K George, 33, assistant sub-inspector Roy P Varghese, 56, senior civil police officer Biju Lukose, 48, and woman civil police officer Geeth Gopinath, 42. The names of Biju and Geeth were not included in the FIR but they were later arraigned on the charge.
The CBI has charged the accused under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 343(wrongful confinement), 348(wrongful confinement for extortion), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 330(causing hurt to extort confession), 331 (causing grievous hurt to extort confession), 34(act done by several persons with common intention), 109(abet an offence), 201(causing disappearance of evidence), 167(public servant framing incorrect document) and 193(false evidence). “During investigation we found that the accused officers had tampered with evidence, framed incorrect document and created false evidence,” a CBI official said.
The CBI Special Crime Branch Thiruvananthapuram will continue the probe into the involvement of top-ranked officers, jail authorities and doctors. “The roles of K B Venugopal, then Idukki police chief, and DySP P Shams is still being looked into. We suspect the involvement of jail authorities. Similarly the involvement of doctors is being probed. We have received some crucial statements against high-ranking police officers and doctors and a further probe ought to be conducted,” a CBI officer said.