Sampath murder: Court slams CBI

KOCHI: The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Wednesday asked whether the hands of the CBI team probing the custodial death of Sampath were tied. Judge B Kemal Pasha orally observed that the submission in the affidavit by the CBI created such a feeling. The judge said this during the hearing of a plea by Sampath’s brother Murukesh seeking a direction to the CBI to explain the delay in arresting the top officials who are accused in connection with the case.ADGP Mohammad Yasin, the then IG, and DIG Vijay Sakhare, the then SP, have also been implicated in the case. The explanation given by the CBI while returning the non-bailable arrest warrant was embarrassing, the court said. “If the higher-ups had no role in the custodial death, then why did the investigating agency seek warrants against them,” the court asked?The CBI submitted that it had sought warrants as the case was initially investigated by a DySP from the local police, creating an apprehension on the part of the CBI that the top officials would resist arrest.Later, the probe was taken over by the higher officials as directed by the Supreme Court. The CBI is of the stand that there is no evidence to conclude that Mohammed Yasin tortured Sampath. The CBI submitted that Yasin was at the Chandranagar Guest House at the time of the alleged custodial torture of Sampath. “The details of phone calls of Yasin were  sufficient to prove it,” the CBI submitted. Meanwhile, the principal sessions court on Tuesday granted bail to SI T N Unnikrishnan of Kodungalloor and traffic constable Shyama Prasad, the second and ninth accused in the case respectively.