KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has directed the Crime Branch probing the murder of abkari contractor Mithila Mohan to file a statement explaining the details of the additional evidence collected by it since the filing of the last report before the court.
The court made it clear that the investigating officer should clearly the state about the progress of the probe in the statement.
The court asked the prosecutor to file the report by December 1, adding that if it was not satisfied with the manner in which the investigation was progressing, it would consider the matter on merits after December 1.
Mohan was shot dead at his residence at Vennala by an unidentified person on April 5, 2006.
According to the police, when the daughter-in-law of Mohan, on answering the door bell, opened the window of the home, an unknown person enquired about Mohan. When he came out, the unidentified man shot Mohan and escaped from the scene. Mohan died while being taken to a hospital.
The police case was that the first accused, Santhosh Kumar, had hired goons to murder Mohan due to the business rivalry existing between them.
In the statement, the Crime Branch had said that Santhosh Kumar had stated that he had hatched a criminal conspiracy with Pandyan, the second accused, for killing Mohan. Mathivannan and Uppali, who had executed the crime, are yet to be arrested.
The prosecutor submitted that urgent steps were being taken by a new team constituted under a Superintendent of Police to nab the accused. He, therefore, sought three months’ time to file a report.