The four police officers who were recently placed under suspension in connection with the suspected custodial torture and death of Vadakara native Sajeevan Ponmeriparambil will be quizzed in detail again as part of the ongoing Crime Branch (CB) investigation.
They will soon be served notices to appear before the team led by Crime Branch SP K.K. Moideenkutty.
The statements of all the other police officers who were recently transferred from Vadakara police station subsequent to a department-level inquiry had already been recorded for further verification.
Though there were similar instructions to the four suspended officers to appear before the team again, they were allegedly ignoring it in the absence of any formal communication.
According to CB sources, all important records had already been gathered from the police station and Vadakara Co-operative Hospital. It included the complete case records of the accident registered against Sajeevan and the closed-circuit television camera footage from multiple locations to analyse the sequence of incidents and compare the same with recorded statements.
Cause of cardiac arrest
Though the post-mortem report confirmed cardiac arrest as the cause of death, the CB squad would be checking whether it was triggered by custodial torture or an attempt to manhandle. They had already consulted the forensic surgeon for an expert opinion. Some of the body scratches, mentioned in the post-mortem report, drew further attention of the investigation team.
It was on July 21 that Sajeevan was taken into police custody in connection with the road accident case. The man was allegedly roughed up by the police and he collapsed near the police station. Sajeevan was later declared dead at the Vadakara Co-operative Hospital.
It was one of his friends who revealed the details of the suspected assault. Later, Sajeevan’s family members and various political parties demanded action against the involved officers. The case was later taken up by the Crime Branch.
