Kalabhavan ManiKochi: The State Human Rights Commission has asked the Kerala police to complete the investigation into the death of actor Kalabhavan Mani at the earliest, reminding the cops that they cannot wash their hand of the affair even if they had handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The commission also asked the director general of police Loknath Behera to personally look into the bereaved family’s allegation that the police were trying to save the real accused.
Mystery shrouds Mani’s final days even seven months after he died in a hospital following a binge party in his farmhouse at Chalakkudy. The police are still not sure if the death were a suicide, murder or accident.
The police have told the rights panel that examinations have found traces of methanol in Mani’s body but they could not explain how the chemical got into his system. The police have decided to subject six persons, including Mani’s friends and aides, to a lie-detector test, the commission was told.
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Mani’s wife and brother, however, objected to the report, alleging it was a shoddy job. The Human Rights Commission took up the case again after they alleged that a proper investigation was not done into the death of the actor. They alleged that Mani’s friends could explain the presence of methanol in his body but the police were trying to save them.
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The police’s dismissal of the Kochi lab report that found traces of pesticide in Mani’s body had also drawn flak. The rights panel has asked the DGP to personally probe the allegation.
Though the case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the central agency has not taken up the case yet. On the other hand, the police probe has also ground to a halt.
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The police chief, however, told the rights panel that the probe was still on under the supervision of the Ernakulam rural superintendent of police. The commission had told the police that they were still responsible for the probe even if it were handed over to the central agency.
