Kalabhavan Mani case shut due to lack of proof

Thrissur: The special team looking into the death of actor Kalabhavan Mani  in March last year has stopped the investigations owing to the lack of evidence on the alleged foul play in the incident. The family members of the late actor had alleged that Mani was poisoned at his outhouse ‘Paadi’ on the banks of Chalakkudy river. SP P.N. Unniraja, who headed the SIT, was later shifted to the team  formed to investigate the sensational Jisha murder case at  Perumbavoor.

The probe into Mani’s death is being conducted now by a team led by Chalakkudy DySP Shahul Hameed. “In July last year, the state government had asked the CBI to take over the case. But, the central agency has not yet responded to the request. We have almost stopped the investigation due to want of any credible evidence,” Mr Shahul Hameed told this newspaper.

Soon after Mani’s death, the Regional Testing Lab at Kakkanad had found the deadly pesticide chlorpyrifos in his body along with methanol. But when the  viscera samples were sent for testing to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory  in Hyderabad,  it was found that there was only highly toxic methanol which is normally found in illegally brewed country liquor. Mani’s brother R.L.V. Ramakrishnan said that the SIT should explain how such a deadly pesticide was found in the body of his brother during lab test. The actor’s family would move the court for a further probe, he said.