Kerala High Court seeks DGP Loknath Behra opinion on Puttingal case

Kochi: A division bench of Kerala High Court on Monday asked state police chief Loknath Behra whether it was necessary to hand over the Puttingal Devi temple fireworks tragedy probe to any other agency. The court directed him to take a decision after a thorough study into the case file. It pointed out that the police probe should have taken note of the fact that one of the prime requirements was to address the issue of different persons trying to meddle with and guide the executive and police action on the incident. The crime branch probing the case had informed the court that it could not trace anything that proves intervention of extra-constitutional power centres to obtain clearance for the fireworks.

The Bench issued the interim order on a batch of petitions. The crime branch had initially claimed that there was nothing to prove the influence of politicians but altered its stand and submitted that several witnesses deposed they heard an announcement thanking former MP Peethambara Kurup for his assistance in obtaining permission. The CBCID had sought more time to complete the investigation. The court had earlier pointed to the lack of clarity on the investigation on 'extra-constitutional power'.