Man missing case: probe team seeks more time

The police on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that the investigation team is not in a position to rule out the role of the CPI(M) internal political disputes at Thattapally in contributing to missing of Sajeevan, a CPI(M) worker at Thottappalli in Alappuzha, even as they sought more time to trace the missing party member.

The submission was made by the police when a habeas corpus petition filed by the wife of Sajeevan seeking a directive to the police to trace and produce her husband came up for hearing.

In a statement, the police submitted that Sajeevan was found missing on the previous day of the branch committee election at Poothoppu. During the investigation, it was learnt that certain factional elements were working in connection with the CPI(M) branch committee elections.

In fact, all the branch secretaries of the local committees under the branch and branch committee members were interrogated. More people had to be interrogated. An in-depth investigation was being conducted by the police team.

The police said that Sajeevan was a supporter of the ongoing protest against the mineral sand transportation from Thottappally estuary by Kerala Minerals nad Metals Limited (KMML) and he acted as Sathyagrahi one day at the samarapandal. The police had verified the possibilities of any threat posed by him in the matter. But no adverse elements were found in this regard. The police said that he had no rivals in local politics or in the community or from the fishing field.

The police submitted that it had visited the Thottappally harbour area and taken statements from the fishermen who had been with Sanjeevan prior to his missing. Sajeevan was seen in the CCTV outside the harbour areas at 1.08 p.m. on September 29 walking southwards along the panchayat road.

The people living in the areas testified that he had moved towards the northern side of the sea mouth and a fisherman fishing at the seamount saw him at that time. Nobody had reported having seen him coming back from the sea mouth areas to the mainland.

Besides, an autorickshaw driver told the police that he had picked Sajeevan from Puthennnad at NH and dropped him at Thottappaly spillway south junction at 1.30 p.m. However, the police ruled out that the statement of the auto driver was incorrect as nobody saw Sanjeevan coming and getting down from the autorickshaw, the police said.

The police had recorded the statements of 108 persons so far and many call detail record had been analysed. Moreover, more persons had to be questioned. The police, therefore, sought more time to trace the missing person.