Udayakumar custodial death papers go missing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI special court here has pulled up the investigating agency for not submitting the interrogation statement of former police official who was made an approver in the infamous Udayakumar custodial murder case of Fort police station in Thiruvananthapuram. The interrogation stat-ement of Heeralal, a former police constable, was missing from the case files submitted in the court.  Heeralal had stated before the court that he had prepared a fake first-information-report against Udayakumar as per the instruction of senior police officers.

CBI sources said that Heeralal was an accused while the charge-sheet was submitted at the court. Usually the interrogation statement of accused is not presented along with the charge-sheet. Only statements of witnesses will be submitted.  Later, Heeralal turned to be an approver. Hence his earlier interrogation statement was also needed to be submitted. Udayakumar was taken into custody along with one Suresh Kumar on September 27, 2005 from Sreekanteswaram Park following suspicion of theft.

Udayakumar was allegedly subjected to severe third-degree interrogation at the Fort police station, resulting in his death. CBI had charge-sheeted 14 police officers in the case. During the trial, Heeralal told the court that the then circle inspector E.K. Sabu instructed him to write the fake FIR against Udayakumar and then assistant commissioner T.K. Haridas and sub-inspectors Ajith Kumar and Raveendran Nair were also privy to it.