In a fresh allegation in the Sreejith custodial death case, his family has now said that the Inspector General of Police, Kochi Range – S Sreejith – is trying to save Superintendent of Police, Kochi Rural AV George, who is one of the accused in the case. The victim’s family has alleged that the IG and the SP are close friends, and released a photo while making the accusation.
In the photo, George can be seen taking part in a pooja conducted by Sreejith.
The IG, S Sreejith, is in charge of the Special Investigation Team that is probing the custodial death of Sreejith – a young man from Varappuzha who died in police custody, allegedly due to injuries caused by custodial torture.
On Friday the team interrogated George – it was the personnel under George, part of the Rural Tiger Force (RTF), who had taken Sreejith into custody. Three members of the RTF have already been arrested in connection with Sreejith’s death, along with Varappuzha Sub Inspector Deepak and Circle Inspector Crispin Sam.
On Tuesday Sreejith’s mother Syamala told Asianet that the family doesn’t trust the investigation being conducted by the police and demanded a CBI investigation into the issue. “It won’t be fair if the police investigates the case,” she said. A petition filed by Sreejith’s wife Akhila seeking CBI probe into the case is before the consideration of the High Court.
"The role of George is mysterious in the case. It was as per his direct instruction that Sreejith was taken into custody, the intention of which is not clear. We suspect that the interrogation by IG Sreejith was a farce. He sent some other officer to collect details rather than doing direct interrogation," Sreejith's father-in-law Pradeep had told TNM.
George, an officer who has probed several sensational cases including the female actor-abduction case, was Rural SP Aluva at the time the crime happened. On April 21 he was transferred to the Police Academy Thrissur after the role of the RTF in the death of Sreejith was severely criticised. RTF was also disbanded.
On Friday, Sreejith’s family got a threatening letter said to be written by three police personnel of the shadow police team of the Thiruvananthapuram police, to withdraw the case. The letter warned that Sreejith’s younger brother would face with the same fate if the family didn’t withdraw the complaint.