Nearly three months after the death of Malayalam actor Kalabhavan Mani at his farmhouse in Thrissur, the Kerala government on Saturday, decided to hand over the case to the CBI.
Reports say that a notification was issued by the Home Secretary to probe the “mysterious circumstances under which he died” based on the recommendation of Loknath Behera, the state DGP.
The decision comes a week after Mani’s family, including his brother RLV Ramakrishnan, approached newly-appointed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to express their dissatisfaction over the investigation carried out by the police and subsequently sought a CBI enquiry.
The 45-year-old actor died on March 6 in Thrissur. Traces of chloropyrifos- a toxic pesticide- and methyl alcohol were found in his blood in two separate lab reports. The family had alleged the involvement of Mani’s friends in his death.