Cops stalling lawyer death probe: CBI

CHENNAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is upset over the lack of support shown by the Chennai city police in the investigation into the controversial murder of law student Sathish Kumar.
A senior CBI investigation officer said that the investigation was not progressing as the local police were not cooperating. The situation has been complicated by the fact that the Madras high court ordered the CBI deputy inspector general to submit a status report on the case by August 24.The primary problem is in bringing in suspects for questioning. CBI officials said that many suspects were unavailable. They said they had recently wanted to question gangster Kattai Raja, who was arrested by Coimbatore police in connection with the murder of a real estate businessman R Somasundaram. They were denied permission to question him before he was sent to judicial custody.
Now the CBI will approach amagistrate court in Coimbatore to seek Kattai Raja’s custody as they have acquired clues regarding his role in Kumar’s murder.
Sathish Kumar, the son of senior advocate S Sankara Subbu, was reported missing on June 7. His body was found five days later, on June 13, in ICF North Colony lake. Initially, the case was investigated by Thirumangalam police inspector Suresh Babu but it was later transferred to the CBI by the Madras high court. With the trail pointing to Kattai Raja, suspicion has also fallen on Suresh Babu. “We suspect a nexus between police inspector Suresh Babu and Kattai Raja since both of them were inmates in Madurai Central prison in 2004,” a senior city police officer said.
Suresh Babu was jailed for 72 days for his involvement in two murders. CBI officials questioned Suresh Babu and found he was suspended for four years and resumed service in 2008. Their investigation also revealed that the action taken by the police department only extended to withholding his salary increment for one year.
According to section 14(b) of Tamil Nadu Police Subordinate Service Rules, a person acquitted on benefit of doubt or because the complainant turned hostile shall be treated as a person involved in a criminal case. “Inspector Suresh Babu does not have any locus standi to continue in service,” said Sankara Subbu.