Thiruvananthapuram: The hunger strike by Sreejith in front of the secretariat seeking a fair probe into the custodial death of his younger brother Sreejeev has gained momentum with citizens joining him in the street after massive social media campaigns in the past week.
The CBI had in December turned down a request by the state government to probe the case. Sreejith has now intensified his strike which entered the 766th day on Saturday.
The leaders of youth organisations and prominent parties, including opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, visited him on Saturday.
Sreejeev, who was allegedly in an affair with a girl, was taken into custody a day before her marriage in 2014 at the behest of her relative who was a policeman. Later, the youth was admitted to hospital after he consumed poison on May 19 that year and injuries marks were also found on his body.
A police probe deemed the death as a case of suicide and the injury marks were attributed to his final struggles at the time of death.
The Police Complaints Authority, on the other hand, had in 2016 adjudged that the case was a custodial death and ordered that the compensation paid to the victim’s family was to be levied from policemen, including the Circle Inspector and Sub-Inspector. The government had paid Rs10 lakh as compensation to Sreejith. However, he sought action against the guilty. The CBI, in a response to the state government, said that the case was not a rare or exceptional one that warrants its involvement.
The citizens and political leaders promised legal aid to Sreejith to approach the High Court seeking a CBI probe. The state government officials said that they will again ask the CBI to consider the case.
Several social media activists announced that they will hold a secretariat march in support of Sreejith at 6.30 p.m. on Sunday. The sources in city police said that he could be removed to hospital anytime if a doctor certifies that his life is in danger.
