THIRUVANANTHAPRUAM: The CPI on Tuesday alleged that the Chief Minister, who also holds the home portfolio, had failed to safeguard the LDF's well stated policy against custodial torture.
The CPI, which took to streets taking out a march to Nedumkandam police station against the custodial death of a local financier Raj Kumar, alleged grave lapses on the part of the government. CPI district secretary K.K. Sivaraman hit out at CPM indirectly saying that there was a limit to use police for for vested political interests.
The CPI leadership demanded registration of murder cases against former Idukki SP and DySP whose involvement in the custodial death was now out in the open. While the senior officers have been let off with minor punishment like transfer, action is only being initiated against the lower rung. The accountability for torture death cannot be fixed by sparing senior officers.
The party wants criminal cases to be booked against senior cops to fix accountability and prevent custodial murders. It also demanded a probe into the role of magistrate.
The CPI workers who took out the protest march attempted to remove the barricade and forcibly enter the police station. However, they were prevented from marching forward. The anger of workers against the police was visible during the protest.
Meanwhile, the CPI leaders alleged that the phone conversation of the Crime Branch investigation team was being leaked out deliberately to derail the current probe. It needs to be probed whether the information is being leaked out from cyber cell or at the level of senior officers.
With incidents of custodial torture bringing a bad name, the CPI and other coalition partners want the government to strictly enforce LDF's police policy of zero tolerance towards custodial torture. Stringent steps should be taken to prevent custodial excesses at least during the remaining tenure of the LDF government. There is a general feeling among people that cops facing serious charges like custodial deaths and excesses are not being dealt with heavy hand.
