Sreejith’s family receivessecond threat in 10 days

The family of S.R. Sreejith, the youth from Dewaspadom at Varapuzha who died in police custody, received another threatening letter on Friday.

The letter demanded the withdrawal of the complaint against three former members of the now-disbanded Rural Tiger Force (RTF) and threatened a fate similar to that of Sreejith for his brother if the demand was not complied with. This was the second such letter to be received by the family in 10 days.

Ranjith, the brother of the deceased, said they had filed a complaint with the Varapuzha police. “Whoever is behind these letters should be brought to book as they want to coerce us into withdrawing the case,” he said.

The Varapuzha police said they had clubbed the latest complaint with the case already registered by the family on receiving the first threatening letter. The police had registered the case last month invoking IPC Section 506 (criminal intimidation) and Section 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

The letter has been written in the names of Jayan, Sunilal, Sunil and Shibu who claim to be members of the ‘Shadow Squad’ under the Thiruvananthapuram Rural SP. The letter was indeed found to be posted from Thiruvananthapuram going by the postal department’s seal on the back of the envelope.

The letter asked the mother, wife and brother of Sreejith to withdraw the case against the three former members of RTF who stand accused in the case. Otherwise, a similar fate awaits Sreejith’s brother, the letter said.

“If you want to know about us and the fate of those who dared to complaint against us, then just ask around in Thiruvananthapuram,” the letter said before going on to graphically describe the torture extended by the Shadow Squad to its complainants in the past.

The letter said how the government and the media ‘scoundrels’ did not dare to touch them despite those stories of torture making it to the media. “So, don’t dare to challenge us on the strength of the media scoundrels,” the letter said.

The writers further threatened the family of dare consequences if the letter was revealed, while extending the olive branch of taking care of all their needs if they yielded to the demands. “Mind you, though the RTF has been disbanded, there are similar squads in other districts,” the letter said.