KOCHI: In a setback to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Sampath custodial death case, the CBI court in Kochi on Monday discharged two police officials including a DySP ranked officer from the case. DySP CK Ramchandran and Civil Police officer Binu Ittoop were discharged from the case by the CBI court.
The case is related to the murder of Sheela Jayakrishnan, a native of Puthur in Palakkad, who was stabbed to death at her house on March 23, 2010. As part of the probe, the police arrested Palakkad native Sampath from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on the sixth day, March 29. He was taken to Riverside Cottage at Malampuzha where he was allegedly tortured. After his death, the accused persons changed the details of the arrest record. As per the CBI charge sheet, Sampath died due to internal bleeding. CBI carried out a probe into the involvement of two IPS officers but they were not charge-sheeted by the agency.
Apart from Ramchandran and Binu, other police officials who were charge-sheeted by CBI were Sub-Inspectors T U Unnikrishnan and Ramesh; Civil Police Officers Johnson Lobo, T J Brijith, Abdul Rasheed, Madhavan K, S Shilan and Shyama Prasad; ASI K Ramachandran and Circle Inspector Vipindas. CBI Court judge K Kamanees decided to discharge the officers from the case in the absence of evidence related to abetment charges against them. Another accused Circle Inspector Vipindas also has filed a discharge petition which is under the consideration of the court.