KOCHI: Twenty20 party's chief coordinator and industrialist Sabu M Jacob on Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the death of its Dalit activist CK Deepu, alleging that the state police cannot be trusted to conduct a fair investigation as it was trying to "scare away" people by lodging cases against them.
Jacob said if the state government or the ruling party has no role in the Dalit activist's death then the probe should be handed over to CBI as then more people would come forward to give evidence.
"Right now, people are scared that police will lodge cases against them.
They (police) lodged a case against me.
They are trying to scare away anyone from coming forward," he alleged while speaking to reporters.
Police lodged a case against Jacob and several others and plans to take action against various others, who all were part of the large number of people who gathered for the last rites of Deepu on Saturday, for violation of COVID-19 protocols.
Police also said no case was lodged against Leader of Opposition in state assembly V D Satheesan and some other political leaders as they visited the victim's home.
Jacob had questioned why no action was taken against Satheesan and other political leaders for violation of COVID-19 norms as they too had been present there to pay homage before the cremation.
Meanwhile, the victim's father spoke to reporters and narrated the events that led up to his son's death and then broke down and beat his chest crying that he will never be able to see Deepu again.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran, in a statement, demanded a case be registered against the CPI(M) MLA of the area for allegedly being part of the conspiracy behind the lynching of the Dalit activist.
Sudhakaran said the post-mortem report reveals the cause of death was an injury to the head and not liver cirrhosis as was claimed by the CPI(M) MLA.
He said the Congress will support the Dalit community and fight against the flagrant social injustices they are facing.
Deepu succumbed to injuries on Friday at a hospital in Aluva where he was undergoing treatment following the attack allegedly by CPI(M) workers over a local political dispute a week ago, police said.
It was alleged that CPI(M) activists brutally attacked Deepu, a resident of Harijan Colony in Kizhakkambalam panchayat, for participating in a "lights-off" protest organised by Twenty20 against the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) last Saturday for allegedly opposing a streetlight challenge organised by it at the panchayat to replace old street lamps.
Earlier, police had arrested four persons in connection with the attack on Deepu.
"They were arrested in connection with the attack against the man.
Following his death, IPC Section 302 (punishment for murder) was invoked against all of them," a senior police official had told PTI.
Twenty20 was a charity outfit floated by the Anna-Kitex Group group seven years ago.
It became a political platform later and won four grama panchayats in the local body polls held in Kerala in 2020.
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