As protests continue to rage over the mysterious death of 41-year-old Mathai at Kudappana allegedly while in the custody of the Forest Department, six officials attached to the Chittar Forest Station here have been transferred to different stations in view of ‘administrative exigencies’.
In an order issued by the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the Deputy Range Forest Officer in Chittar has been transferred to Pachakkanam under the Ranni division. The remaining five officers, including a section forest officer, three beat forest officers and a tribal watcher, were transferred to various stations by the Divisional Forest Officer, Ranni.
Sources said these officials had been part of a team that took the victim into custody and were on compulsory leave following protests by local people.
Body in morgue
The relatives of the victim, however, vowed to continue the protests till the guilty were arrested. The post-mortem examination of the body was held at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam. The body is now kept at the mortuary of a private hospital in Ranni.
“We will not perform his last rites until the family gets justice,” said Sheeba, wife of the deceased. She said the body was handed over to the family based on a primary report that attributed the death to drowning.
Mathai was found dead in a well near his residence on July 28, hours after being taken into custody by forest officials for allegedly damaging a camera installed by the department on the forest fringes.
While a special investigation team led by Chief Forest Conservator (Southern Circle) Sanjayan Kumar confirmed the death as a case of suicide, Mathai’s kin claimed that the forest officials had thrown him into the well after beating him to death.
The family alleged that Mathai was taken into custody without adhering to the relevant protocols.