Thiruvananthapuram: It was the strong allegations of the involvement of CPM top leaders that prompted the police to moot a CBI probe into the murder of RSS leader Elanthodath Manoj, as the police wanted to shied itself from future criticisms about not framing top leaders.
As in the case of the murder of RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan, allegations of the involvement of top CPM leaders in the murder of Manoj surfaced soon after the murder. The aggrieved parties in the case would be satisfied with the probe only if the top leaders of the CPM are implicated, which is often difficult due to lack of evidence.
Hence the police department decided to seek a CBI probe at the initial stage itself.
“It is a very common phenomenon in Kerala to allege of involvement of top party leaders as soon as a political murder takes place. But the police cannot not take the probe forward as per the allegations. In order to frame anyone in the case, the police require solid evidence.
The aggrieved party in a political murder would be satisfied with the probe only if top leders are implicated,” a senior police officer said.
In the TPC murder case, though the investigation was much appreciated for bringing the alleged murderers before the law, RMP leaders and Chandrasekhar’s family were not satisfied with the probe as top CPM leaders were not implicated. “We wanted to avoid such embarrassing situations this time. Hence it was a collective decision to recommend a CBI probe in the initial stage itself,” said the officer.
The intervention of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as well as the demand of the BJP-RSS to handover the case to the CBI also influenced the government decision to rope in the services of the central agency, said home department sources.
