Crime Branch to probe the death of Neyyattinkara couple

Crime Branch to probe the death of Neyyattinkara couple
Rahul and Ranjith, children of the couple.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Crime Branch has been asked to take over the probe of the death of the Rajan-Ambili couple in Neyyattinkara. The couple died on December 29, a week after they sustained serious burns when the police, armed with a court order, sought to evict them from the small shed in which they were living.

State Police Chief Loknath Behra has handed over the investigation to a separate wing, the Crime Branch, as it was considered inappropriate for the police led by Neyyatinkara DySP to probe a case that involved the behaviour of policemen under his command. The family of the deceased, especially the couple's sons, has blamed the police for the deaths. An official complaint on these lines has been given to the chief minister.

Though it was Rajan who had poured kerosene over his and his wife's body and held a flaming lighter near, it was the sudden move of a policeman to strike at Rajan's lighter-wielding hand with his cap that caused the fire to flare up and consume the bodies of the couple. At the hospital, Rajan had said he had no intention of committing suicide and that he was only trying to scare the eviction team away.

The other complaint against the police was the unnecessary haste the team showed to get Rajan's family evicted. Right after the couple got accidentally immolated, the stay on the eviction procedures had come from the High Court.

Another senior police official's brusque manner with the teenage son of the deceased couple was also widely criticised.

The eviction proceedings were the result of a land dispute Rajan had with his neighbour Vasantha. She had approached the court saying that Rajan had illegally occupied her three cents of land. She said she had purchased the land in 2016 and had paid tax for the land in Athiyannoor panchayat.

A lawyer's commission that was appointed to conduct the site inspection said Vasantha had nine cents, on six of which stood her house and the remaining three cents were agricultural land. The Munsif Court, in an order passed on January 9, 2020, asked the parties to maintain the status quo.

Vasantha further went to court saying that her neighbours had encroached into her agricultural land. Another lawyer's commission was appointed and this commission also filed a report saying that Vasantha's land was forcibly entered into and a shed constructed.

In an order passed on June 16, the Munsif Court wanted the shed demolished. Rajan's attempts to get a stay failed. The court then ordered the eviction with police protection on December 15. Police sources said both parties were given advance notice of the eviction planned on December 22.

The Crime Branch will also investigate the ownership of both the disputed land and also Rajan's neighbour Vasantha's.

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