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Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s statement in the Assembly on Thursday that investigating officer DySP Jaison K Abraham himself had prepared the probe report on the suicide of two girls in Kozhikode, an incident with alleged connections to the infamous ice cream parlour sex scandal, has turned into a controversy.
While replying to the notice for an adjournment motion on the issue in the House, Chandy said that controversial Assistant Commissioner of Police K Radhakrishna Pillai had merely submitted Jaison Abraham’s report in the court but reports indicated that this was far from the truth.
According to sources, Pillai, who was in the centre of a controversy for opening fire on agitating students, had submitted in the court a report prepared by DGP Jacob Punnoose. There were allegations that Pillai, who had no role in the investigation, was posted as ACP in Kozhikode (North) in order to sabotage a special team’s investigation into the sex scandal.
The death of the two girls, Sunaina and Sibana, both pre-degree students of a Muslim-management college in Kozhikode, on October 29, 1996 had become a huge controversy after it was alleged that the incident had direct connections with the sex scandal in which Industries Minister and top Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty was allegedly involved.
The girls’ bodies were found on the railway track in Kozhikode and the police had concluded that they had ended own lives by jumping in front of a speeding train. However, allegations had come up that the girls were forced to take the extreme step after being trapped by the racket based at the same ice cream parlour which was the point of origin of the sex scandal.
A court in Kozhikode while taking up a petition on the matter the other day refused to examine the report Pillai had submitted but asked Jaison Abraham, one of the four officials re-investigating the sex scandal, to file a fresh report. PM Harris, counsel to the petitioner, said that Jason Abraham had not so far submitted any report in the court.
Moving the notice for the adjournment motion, Marxist member KK Lathika said that Pillai’s action in the case even when he had nothing to with the investigation had exposed the real intentions of the Government in posting him as ACP in Kozhikode just when the crucial probe by a special police team was going on.
Lathika said that a lot of information could be gathered if another girl, who was with Sunaina and Sibana on the day of the incident, was questioned. She said the incident was mired in mystery as was evident from the fact that two witnesses to it, Rajan and Radhakrishnan, had died in mysterious circumstances later.
Replying to the notice for the motion, Chief Minister Chandy claimed that the incident had no connection with the ice cream parlour sex scandal. He said that the incident took place while the Left was in power, that the LDF had ruled the State for nine years after that and that it had not found anything that connected it to the ice cream parlour sex scandal.
Industries Minister Kunhalikutty intervened to allege that Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan and businessman KA Rauf, a close relative of the Minister, were responsible for turning the girls’ death into a controversy. The re-investigation in the ice cream parlour case was ordered after Rauf made some stunning disclosures on how Kunhalikutty had derailed the probe.
The Opposition LDF walked out of the House after Speaker G Karthikeyan refused leave for the adjournment motion. Before walking out, Opposition leader Achuthanandan asked the Government to provide clear answers to questions and to stop efforts to escape burning issues with statements like the case was 15 years old.
While replying to the notice for an adjournment motion on the issue in the House, Chandy said that controversial Assistant Commissioner of Police K Radhakrishna Pillai had merely submitted Jaison Abraham’s report in the court but reports indicated that this was far from the truth.
According to sources, Pillai, who was in the centre of a controversy for opening fire on agitating students, had submitted in the court a report prepared by DGP Jacob Punnoose. There were allegations that Pillai, who had no role in the investigation, was posted as ACP in Kozhikode (North) in order to sabotage a special team’s investigation into the sex scandal.
The death of the two girls, Sunaina and Sibana, both pre-degree students of a Muslim-management college in Kozhikode, on October 29, 1996 had become a huge controversy after it was alleged that the incident had direct connections with the sex scandal in which Industries Minister and top Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty was allegedly involved.
The girls’ bodies were found on the railway track in Kozhikode and the police had concluded that they had ended own lives by jumping in front of a speeding train. However, allegations had come up that the girls were forced to take the extreme step after being trapped by the racket based at the same ice cream parlour which was the point of origin of the sex scandal.
A court in Kozhikode while taking up a petition on the matter the other day refused to examine the report Pillai had submitted but asked Jaison Abraham, one of the four officials re-investigating the sex scandal, to file a fresh report. PM Harris, counsel to the petitioner, said that Jason Abraham had not so far submitted any report in the court.
Moving the notice for the adjournment motion, Marxist member KK Lathika said that Pillai’s action in the case even when he had nothing to with the investigation had exposed the real intentions of the Government in posting him as ACP in Kozhikode just when the crucial probe by a special police team was going on.
Lathika said that a lot of information could be gathered if another girl, who was with Sunaina and Sibana on the day of the incident, was questioned. She said the incident was mired in mystery as was evident from the fact that two witnesses to it, Rajan and Radhakrishnan, had died in mysterious circumstances later.
Replying to the notice for the motion, Chief Minister Chandy claimed that the incident had no connection with the ice cream parlour sex scandal. He said that the incident took place while the Left was in power, that the LDF had ruled the State for nine years after that and that it had not found anything that connected it to the ice cream parlour sex scandal.
Industries Minister Kunhalikutty intervened to allege that Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan and businessman KA Rauf, a close relative of the Minister, were responsible for turning the girls’ death into a controversy. The re-investigation in the ice cream parlour case was ordered after Rauf made some stunning disclosures on how Kunhalikutty had derailed the probe.
The Opposition LDF walked out of the House after Speaker G Karthikeyan refused leave for the adjournment motion. Before walking out, Opposition leader Achuthanandan asked the Government to provide clear answers to questions and to stop efforts to escape burning issues with statements like the case was 15 years old.
