Chennai: Coming down heavily on the police for not conducting the investigation properly in a sensational murder case in which former MLA Ranganathan was allegedly involved, the Madras high court has ordered a CBI probe into the case.
When the petition filed by S. Siva, father of the deceased, came up for hearing before Justice S. Nagamuthu, the judge said, “It is crystal clear that the investigation was not done properly and attempts were made to safeguard the interests of the accused. If the trial court is allowed to proceed with the trial, I apprehend that all the accused will be acquitted.”
The case pertains to the gruesome murder of S. Bhuvaneshwaran, 37, by a four-member gang on January 10, 2012. On completion of investigation, a chargesheet was filed before the V metropolitan magistrate court, Egmore.
Stating that investigation was not done properly by the Kolathur police, Siva filed the petition before the high court, seeking a direction for a further probe.
On perusing the documents and case diary, the judge said it was unfortunate that the police had spoiled the case. The judge pointed out that the evidence of eyewitnesses was not recorded.
While setting aside the chargesheet from the file of the trial court, the judge said the court had committed an illegality in accepting the final report without applying its judicial mind and without issuing notice to the de facto complainant.
Justice Nagamuthu directed the investigation officer to hand over the case diary and all other connected records to the joint director, CBI, Chennai, within a week. He also directed the joint director to nominate an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police/assistant commissioner of police to further investigate the case and submit a final report within six months.
