CBI takes over probe 12 years after death of Kerala teen due to poisoning

KOCHI:   The perseverance of the family of Rana Pratap Singh to know the truth about his death in 2011 finally paid off with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) taking over the case on January 6,following the direction of the Kerala High Court. 

The mysterious death of  Rana, son of  Sudheendra Prasad a native of Punalur on March 26, 2011 remains unsolved with multiple investigating teams unable to conclude if  it was an accident or homicide. The 15-year old, who was a 10th-standard student of the Government Higher Secondary School, Punalur collapsed and died after drinking a juice from a bakery.

“On March 28, 2011, at 3.30 pm, after completion of the last SSLC examination, Rana and his close friends went to Imperial Bakery in Punalur town to drink juice. While drinking juice, he  collapsed and fell from his chair. His father, elder brother and others took him to the Punalur Poyyanil Hospital for treatment at 4.30 pm where the doctor declared him dead. The autopsy report showed the death was due to poisoning,” states the FIR filed by CBI  at the Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate court. 

Unsatisfied by the initial police probe, his father approached Kerala High Court which directed the Crime Branch to probe the case. Prasad again approached the Kerala High Court which then directed a probe under the supervision of ADGP B Sandhya. The probe conducted by DCP V Ajith under the supervision of ADGP B Sandhya also failed to come to a conclusion regarding the death.

The multiple  investigation agencies probing  the case  ruled out suicide as a cause of death,but failed to reach a conclusion on how the deceased was poisoned. Traces of poison were detected in the uniform and bags of one of the four friends of Rana, who accompanied him from school to the juice shop.

The investigation team also sought the expert opinion of Dr K Sasikala, professor and police surgeon who was holding the charge of Head of the Department, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. She gave the opinion that the death was due to formic acid poisoning, and added that poisoning could be  either homicidal or accidental, but in this case it was more likely to be a homicide considering the particular poison found in the case.

After the death of Prasad,Rana’s uncle Dr Prabhakumar approached the Kerala High Court for a CBI probe.The court based on the opinion of scientific experts ordered CBI to take over the probe on December 19, 2022.CBI has re-registered the FIR for an unnatural death case under section 174 of CrPC.