Kalabhavan Mani's kin postpone hunger strike

THRISSUR: The family members of   Kalabhavan Mani  have  postponed the one-day hunger strike  planned to be held  at Chalakkudy, the home town of the actor, on Saturday.  This is on the basis of the assurance given by Co-operation Minister A.C. Moideen that the new  government would address the concerns raised by the relatives of  the actor regarding his mysterious death  two-and-a-half months ago.

Mani’s brother  R.L.V. Ramakrishnan said that the minister along with CPM district secretary K. Radhakrishnan and Chalakkudy MLA B.D. Devassy had assured him that the inquiry into the case would be expedited and the matter would be raised in the first Assembly session.

Crime Branch SP P.N. Unnirajan said that the test result of the viscera samples of the deceased,  which were sent for testing at the Central Forensic Lab in Hyderabad,  was expected by Saturday. After getting the test results, the police would decide on the further course of action.

Mr Ramakrishnan said that  the Regional Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory in Kochi had  found traces of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide, in the viscera samples of the actor.  But  the post-mortem done at the Medical College Hospital had  not found any such pesticides and that was a matter of concern, he said. “I don’t know why the police were not trying to find how the pesticide entered the body of my brother rather than sending the viscera samples for further testing in Hyderabad,” he noted.