Letter row: Crime Branch completes primary probe in haste

Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch and the Vigilance, conducting separate inquiries into the Corporation Letter controversy, have “failed” to dig out substantial evidence, including the source of the letter allegedly seeking backdoor appointments.

The Crime Branch, which is set to hand over a preliminary investigation report later today, has no answer to questions like the letter source and the persons behind its preparation and circulation. The Vigilance too couldn’t make much headway on whether there was any financial irregularity behind the alleged move to fill up temporary posts based on ‘party list’, sources said.

A letter purportedly written by Mayor Arya Rajendran addressing CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan, seeking a list of candidates for the 295 temporary vacancies in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, has resulted in a political storm. Another “letter” by Municipal Corporation parliamentary party secretary D R Anil to the party district secretary regarding temporary postings at the SAT hospital too added fuel to the controversy.

The Crime Branch probe got constricted to recording the statements following a direction that they were required only to hold a primary probe and submit a report. No case has been taken in the matter.

The sleuths collected the statements of Arya Rajendran, Anavoor Nagappan, D R Anil, and two corporation employees. The report prepared in just four days will be handed over to Crime Branch ADGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb today.

 

What the Crime Branch didn’t do…

 

The Crime Branch team didn’t follow the following inquiry procedures in such matters: -

Since the Mayor claimed the letter was “fake”, the sleuths could have seized the mobile phones of suspects and the hard discs in the Corporation office and handed them over to Cyber Dome or Forensic Science Laboratory for scientific examinations. This could have shed light on the letter source within 24 hours.

Neither the mobile phone nor the office documents of D R Anil, who admitted to writing another letter to the party district secretary recommending back door appointments, were inspected.

The employees gave a statement that anyone could access the letter pad of the Mayor. Arya Rajendran herself told the cops that her used letter pads were there in many sections of the Corporation.

However, the Crime Branch team didn’t take measures to confirm the same.

The sleuths also didn’t inspect any documents at the Corporation office to find out whether such irregularities had happened before.