3 months after Mesta death, CBI yet to make headway in case

BENGALURU: The case of death of Paresh Mesta has made little headway, three months after the it was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The agency is yet to file an FIR in the case, which had flared communal tensions in Uttara Kannada district in December 2017.Meanwhile, the fate of the case hangs in balance, after the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in New Delhi sought a ‘Feasibility Report’ from the CBI with respect to the case in February this year.The New Indian Express contacted Mesta’s relatives  and the police, who confirmed the same, and said the investigation process was yet to be taken up. 

Mesta’s murder was followed by a series of protests by the BJP which had accused the minority community of torturing and murdering the 18-year old whose body was fished out of a pond in Shettykere pond in Honnavaron December 8, 2017. Succumbing to pressure from the BJP, the state government handed over the case to the CBI on December 13.“CBI officers have not come to our home or inquired with us about the suspicious murder of our son,” Kamalakar, Mesta’s father, said. He, however, added, “We are aware that the police had initially investigated and questioned a few people.” 

Superintendent of Police, Karwar, Vinayak Patil said after the case was handed over to the CBI, the agency had sent a list of requirements to the district police to launch its probe. “We had sent the documents within three to four days in the required proforma. The CBI is yet to take up the case,” he said. Highly placed sources in the state Home Department said they had written to the DoPT in the first week of February regarding developments in the case.

“The department  sent the same set of documents shared with the CBI to DoPT. DoPT has sought a feasibility report from the CBI. CBI is yet to respond to DoPT,” the source  said.   Since the body was found two days after communal tensions erupted in the district, the murder became a controversial issue with BJP and Hindutva groups alleging he was tortured and killed. However, the police had denied the allegations.A forensic expert had said that there were no injury marks nor signs of torture and strangulation. The report, however, mentioned two injuries, and that one could have been caused by blunt force.