​SIT dives to fish out facts of death

CHENNAI: More than two years after the body of S Satish Kumar, son of Madras high court lawyer R Sankara Subbu, was fished out from the ICF lake on June 13, 2011, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing his death went to the water body on Tuesday to look for new evidence.
The team, which included divers armed with a water-proof video camera, took a few pictures of the lake bed.At the end of the day, however, the SIT officials called off the search. They said the lake bed was covered with sludge more than a metre thick and that divers found it tough to collect samples.
“After the recent rains, the lake is filled to the brim. Trained divers jumped in along with all safety apparatus with them, but the sludge made their task difficult. Some photographs and video images were shot but they were not clear. Initially, we planned to conduct the search for about 15 days, but it was called off,” superintendent of police, SIT, S Mani told TOI.
Another senior officer said the team members decided to visit the lake as they believed the assailants may have left behind some evidence. “We don’t want to leave a ray of hope to solve the case,” the officer said.
The SIT headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan was appointed by the Madras high court in December last year to investigate the mysterious death of Satish Kumar in December last year after the theory that Satish Kumar had committed suicide was rejected.
The SIT, finding no fresh evidence, appealed to the public for information that could help crack the case. Members of the special team said people with information can call SP S Mani (94448 33999) or deputy superintendent of police V Sudhakar (94442 73223). The team is now analysing scientific and legal evidence in the case to determine the cause of death.