Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has decided to recommend a CBI probe into the death of actor Kalabhavan Mani. The decision has been taken on the basis of DGP Loknath Behera's report and the representation made by Kalabhavan Mani's family for a probe by an external agency. The government will approach the Union department of personnel with the request for the takeover of the case by the CBI.
The details of the investigations carried out by the state police would also be handed over to them. Once the CBI agrees for the probe, a notification will be issued subsequently. The CBI is likely to take over the case considering the nature of the incident and the available evidence. The state government decision was welcomed by Mani's brother R.L.V. Ramakrishnan.
Last week, Ramakrishnan had demanded a probe by an external agency like the CBI into Mani’s death under mysterious circumstances. He called on the chief minister and expressed frustration over the manner in which the current probe was going ahead. Ramakrishnan told the chief minister that the family feared the case could be hushed up.
Mani was admitted to the Amrita hospital in Kochi on March 5 and he died the next day. He was found unconscious at his outhouse in Chalakudy from where his friends rushed him to the Amrita hospital. Right from the beginning, the family had expressed doubts about the role of the actor's friends and acquaintances in his death.
Earlier , the regional government laboratory at Kakkanad had found a pesticide, chlorpyrifos, in Mani’s body. However, the report of the Central Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad had ruled out the presence of chlorpyrifos but found traces of methanol or methyl alcohol in Mani's viscera samples. Kalabhavan Mani's wife Nimmi had also complained about the probe getting derailed.
