ALAPPUZHA: The Bindu Padmanabhan Action Council has lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch ADGP alleging that senior police officers deliberately sabotaged the initial investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Bindu Padmanabhan from Cherthala.
According to the complaint, members of the investigation team took bribe from Sebastian, a key suspect. It is alleged that senior officers intervened in the investigation held after Bindu went missing in 2017 to derail the proceedings. The officers had large financial deals with Sebastian, and they even trained him on how to respond if questioned by investigating agencies in the future.
The disappearance case dates back to 2017, when Bindu’s brother, Praveen Padmanabhan, filed a missing complaint with the police. A special investigation team was formed, but the action council claims that from the early stages itself, the probe was derailed by top officers at the district level by taking huge amounts from Sebastian.
The council alleged that instead of leading a fair probe, the officers neglected evidence collection, helped destroy crucial material evidence, and trained the suspect in responding to likely queries by investigators in the future, in case of further probe. The action council demanded questioning of the officers who conducted investigation in the initial stages, and subjecting them to a lie detector test.
The police have intensified the investigation into the case. Although the prime accused, Sebastian, is currently in custody, he has not been cooperating with the interrogation. During two separate searches at Sebastian’s house in Pallippuram, investigators found a well that was covered permanently.
The probe team had not noticed it earlier. Sebastian reportedly told police that the unused well was covered three years ago. Acting on this information, a Crime Branch team from Kottayam examined the site and decided to reopen it for inspection in the coming days.
The police will also search a property in the town owned by Sebastian’s brother, which is currently overgrown with vegetation. In the Ayesha case, investigators are planning to record statements of three women, Rosamma, Laila, and Sujatha, who were her close acquaintances.
