CB team quizzes scribe

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch Special Team probing the controversial e-mail snooping case quizzed journalist Viju V Nair, who reported about e-mails being hacked by the police, on Wednesday.He was interrogated at the Crime Branch office here by a team led by DySP Radhakrishna Pillai. He was summoned to the office with prior notice.The interrogation which started at 10.30 a m in the morning lasted till evening.Till now, the Crime Branch team has quizzed around 200 persons in connection with the case. The report, which appeared in a vernacular weekly, said that the intelligence wing of the police directed to get the e-mail details of 268 persons, all belonging to a particular community. The report snowballed into a controversy in the state.It is alleged that Biju Salim, a Sub Inspector with the Hi-Tech Cell, forged a letter of the Intelligence wing of the police, asking to snoop e-mails of 268 persons.Biju was placed under suspension in January following the e-mail snooping row and he was arrested by the special team in March.Shanavas, a lawyer based at Nemom here, another accused in the case, was also arrested in March for allegedly conspiring with Biju Salim.Recently, a team of journalists had met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, pleading to avoid Viju’s arrest.