Seven officials of the Excise Enforcement and Anti Narcotics Squad, Thrissur, were charge-sheeted by the CBI in the custodial death case of Ranjith Kumar of Tirur, Malappuram.
CBI Dy.SP T.P. Anantha Krishnan filed the chargesheet in the case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, on Monday.
Excise Preventive Officers Abdul Jabbar and V.A. Ummer and Excise Civil Officers K.U. Mahesh and Smibin were charged with committing murder, wrongful confinement and causing hurt. Excise Preventive Officer Anup Kumar and Excise Civil Officers Nidhin K. Madavan and M. O. Benny were chargesheeted for offences of public servant framing incorrect documents with the intent to cause injury, framing documents with the intent to save person from punishment, voluntarily causing hurt to extract confession, and wrongful restraint, according to a CBI communication.
2 kg of ganja
The CBI case is that the accused took Ranjith Kumar into illegal custody on October 1, 2019 from Guruvayur for possession of two kilograms of ganja. Ranjith Kumar, who was taken to a godown of a toddy shop at Pavaratty and brutally assaulted, died in the evening.
The CBI recommended slapping of a major penalty against Jijo Jose, Circle Inspector of Excise, Thrissur, for making false entries in the official records related to the case.
Minor penalty was recommended against P.K. Sanu, the then Deputy Commissioner Excise, Thrissur; Fizal, the then Circle Inspector of Police, Pavaratty; and Sandeep, the then Tahsildar, Chavakkad, in connection with the case, the communication said.
The CBI examined 95 witnesses, collected 89 documents and 39 material objects for the 750-page chargesheet.
