Granting bail to Babu puts SIT in a fix

KOZHIKODE: Granting  bail to CPM’s Koothuparamba area committee office secretary on Friday evening appears to have placed the Special Investigation Team  probing the murder of RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan at the receiving end.The police action has given a definite edge to the CPM, which was on the defensive till then, to level allegations that the accused are being tortured to name the CPM top leaders involved in the murder case.CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, while speaking at a meeting in Vadakara on Saturday, alleged  that C Babu was manhandled by the investigators. He said  the police team had been adopting the same method while interrogating the other accused. He also called for intervention of the judiciary in the issue.Former senior police officers are of the opinion that the party will use this as a weapon to step up its resistance against the investigation, which will in turn badly affect the momentum of the present probe. The party will now apply pressure tactics to block the police from taking people into custody.Reacting to the issue, Congress leader and MP K Sudhakaran criticised the way in which Babu was granted bail. “If the SIT had to release Babu, they could have done it much earlier. By yielding to the pressure tactics of M V Jayarajan, the SIT has set a bad precedent in the state,” he said.SIT has also been criticised by various quarters for charging Section 212 (harbouring offenders) only against Babu. “As per the reports, gangmen visited CPM’s Koothuparamba office after committing the crime in the wee hours of May 5. What was Babu doing at the office during that time? Why didn’t he inform the police about the issue even after two weeks? By harbouring offenders, it has become clear that he had prior knowledge about the conspiracy and commission of the crime.The accused who reached the office had been in the place for some time and there was a prior arrangement for the accused to get away from the place. Apart from Section 212, he should have been prosecuted under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and Section 120b (conspiracy).The police committed a mistake by charging only a bailable section against such a person,” said a retired police officer, who preferred anonymity.Left Coordination Committee (LCC) leaders alleged that Babu was released following the intervention of DGP Jacob Punnoose.