Kochi: Amid the calls for a further investigation into the death of Swami Saswathikananda, legal sources say it can only be ordered if supposed killer Priyan deposes afresh.
Otherwise, the probe will not be effective as eight different SPs have investigated the unnatural death.
State's legal team feels that since the high court dismissed a plea for a CBI probe, the police can proceed only if there was a fresh deposition with clinching evidence.
Though home minister Ramesh Chennithala called for the case files, the state so far has not approached director general of prosecutions T. Asaf Ali for a legal opinion.
"If Biju Ramesh files a formal complaint either in a police station or a court, the police could very well launch further investigation into the case," said Mr Ali.
He added that the government would take a final call on the matter. Allegations levelled by controversial hotelier Biju Ramesh had kicked off a debate over the unnatural death of Swami Saswathikananda in 2002.
Former investigating officers, meanwhile, discounted the murder theories. A former investigating officer claimed that three different SPs questioned Priyan, who, according to Mr Ramesh, is the killer.
"None of them managed to get a clue to prove the allegations of murder. All the material objects and the circumstantial evidence support the theory of drowning," the source said.
"The closure report refers to the eyewitness accounts of three persons. We also probed into all the allegations raised by the relatives as well as opposing factions of the SNDP," another former investigating officer told DC on condition of anonymity.
