In view of a High Court order to hand over the case related to the death of P.P. Mathai allegedly under custody of the forest officials at Chittar to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Pathanamthitta police on Wednesday handed over the case files to the Central agency.
According to K.G. Simon, District Police Chief, the case file and related documents had been handed over to the CBI Thiruvananthapuram unit. All material evidence in connection with the case had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram.
“Among the documents handed over included those relating to the application to the Chief Judicial Magistrate for recording the statements under Section 164 Cr.PC and the legal advices received,” the official said.
Mathai was found dead in a well near his residence on July 28, hours after being taken into custody by the forest officials for allegedly damaging a camera installed by the department on the forest fringes.
While a special investigation team led by Chief Forest Conservator (Southern Circle) Sanjayan Kumar had confirmed the death as a case of suicide, the relatives alleged that the forest officials had thrown Mathai into the well after beating him to death.
In its preliminary investigation report, the police had sought to invoke action against the accused forest officials for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and various other charges. However, no person was arraigned as accused in the case.
Two forest officials, deputy range officer R. Rajesh Kumar and section forest officer A.K. Pradeep Kumar, have been placed under suspension based on a departmental inquiry.
