DGP Loknath Behera orders Crime Branch re-probe into Haneefa murder case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/ Thrissur: State police chief Loknath Behera has ordered a re-investigation by the crime branch into the murder of Congress leader A.C. Haneefa in Chavakkad in Thrissur district. The re-investigation was ordered on the basis of a recent High Court order on a petition moved by the mother of Haneefa. She had alleged that the investigation by the police was derailed and that some prominent local leaders of the party were involved in the murder.

Haneefa’s mother had pointed that there were severe drawbacks in the investigation and some of the persons involved in the heinous crime were not included in the charge sheet submitted by the cops. The High Court had earlier stayed the trial in the case which was scheduled to begin in May this year. Haneefa was allegedly murdered due to rivalry between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups in the party.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the slain Congress leader have expressed the hope that the re-investigation would bring out the real culprits in the murder case. According to the relatives of Haneefa, former Chavakkad mandalam president Gopa Prathapan was the kingpin behind the murder but his name was not included in the chargesheet.

Haneefa, a leader of the ‘A’ faction of the Congress was attacked inside his house in front of his mother on August 8, 2015. He died later in the hospital. Widespread violence followed the murder in which houses and properties for several people were destroyed. The reinvestigation has been ordered at a time when the rivalry within the ‘I’ group has touched it peak with several people openly voicing their disagreement with senior leader C.N. Balakrishnan.