KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday pulled up the CBI for its shoddy investigation into the mysterious death of V Saseendran, the former company secretary of Malabar Cements, and his two minor sons in 2011, and ordered further probe into the incident. The court asked the central agency to complete the probe within four months and directed that every suspicious situation, including the possibility of murder, should be examined in detail.
Saseendran (46) — a whistleblower, who raised the allegations of “illegal transactions” worth over Rs 400 crore in the purchase of raw materials by the Palakkad-based state PSU — and his two sons Vivek (11) and Vyas (8) were found hanging at their home at Kanjikode in Palakkad at 2am on January 2, 2011. A series of mysterious deaths followed the incident.
“A half-baked supplementary report was submitted by way of an eyewash without addressing the relevant issues involved in the crime. I am of the view that one of the most reputed investigating agencies in India - the CBI - should be more vigilant while acting on investigations pertaining to very serious offences and it shall not be an eyewash,” said Justice P Somarajan while allowing a batch of petitions including one by his brother Sanal Kumar challenging the final report filed by CBI.
“The entire investigation taints and tarnishes the well-deserved reputation of the CBI as a premier investigating agency,” the court said. After the initial probe by the state police, the High Court ordered CBI to take over the sensational case on February 17, 2011. MCL contractor VM Radhakrishan alias ‘Chakku’ Radhakrishnan was arrested by the CBI on March 19, 2013, and was charged with abetment of suicide.
Unfortunate that probe is lingering on for 10 years: HC
The CBI had found that the suicide was caused by the stress Saseendran had faced. The court said it was unfortunate that the investigation is lingering on for the past more than ten years without yielding anything worth the name. “The director of the CBI shall take up the matter with due alacrity to the gravity and seriousness so as to constitute a new investigation team under the supervision of a senior and competent officer, who has the necessary expertise in the field and is not gullible,” the court said.
The wilful attempt from the investigating agency to exclude the allegation of a major offence of murder under Section 302 IPC and the alleged involvement of accused persons is explicit from the fact that they did not even take cognizance of the opinion given by Dr K Sreekumari, professor and head of the department of forensic medicine, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram. She was one of the members of the Committee of medico-legal Forensic Experts formed on January 12, 2012.
“The opinion given by her that the fresh antemortem injuries found on the body of Saseendran was simple, but from the nature of distribution on the body, may give an immediate impression that they are the result of restraint had been given away by the investigating agency on a flimsy reason that none of the nearby residents heard any unusual sounds from the said house,” the court said.
CHAIN OF MYSTERIOUS DEATHS
Satheendra Kumar, a witness in the case, died after being mowed down by a private bus at the Ukkadam bus stand in Coimbatore. The driver of the bus was later found dead when the police intensified their probe into Kumar’s death. Saseendran’s wife Teena also died under mysterious circumstances in 2018