Custodial death where Forest officials are accused; further investigation into death of PP Mathai; court rejects CBI report

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The court has ordered a further investigation into the death of PP Mathai, a native of Chittar, Pathanamthitta, in the custody of forest department officials. The order was made on a petition filed by Mathai's wife Sheeba, seeking to reject the report submitted by the CBI and direct a further investigation. The order was issued by Special CBI Court Judge KS Sreekumar. The court directed the CBI to submit a report within three months. Deputy Forest Officer Rajesh Kumar and forest department officials Pradeep Kumar, Anil Kumar, Santosh and Lakshmi are the accused.

The demands in Sheeba's petition are as follows - Further investigation should be carried out against the accused. The charge sheet filed by the CBI has been filed for culpable homicide. It should be changed to murder. The driver, a contract employee who was with the officers when the forest department officials took Mathai into custody, and the person who informed the forest department that the camera was broken should also be made an accused.

Mathai was taken into custody by officials on July 28, 2020, in connection with the destruction of a CCTV camera installed by the Forest Department. That evening, Mathai's body was found in a well near his house. Although the postmortem was performed on July 31 and the body was handed over to his relatives, the relatives took a stand that the body should not be buried without arresting the accused. The CBI investigation was initiated as per the High Court order.