SC orders CBI probe into suspicious murder of MBBS student

SC indicted CID Bengaluru, imposes Rs 1 lakh cost for failing to find out truth

The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to probe the mysterious death of an MBBS student in Mangaluru in 2014, after finding that there was no proper investigation into allegation of murder. It also noted the Bengaluru CID, directed to further investigate, strangely filed an "abated charge sheet" against the deceased for rash and negligent driving, "unheard of" in criminal proceedings.

"We are not at all satisfied with the further investigation carried out by the CID, Bengaluru. The truth must come out after a thorough and proper investigation. In the present case, CID Bengaluru has failed to perform its duty by not investigating the case thoroughly," a bench of Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh said.

"Under the circumstances, this is a fit case to exercise the powers under Article 32 of the Constitution and to transfer the investigation of the case to the CBI Bengaluru," the bench added.

After hearing advocate Jogy Scaria on behalf of the father of the deceased, M S Radhakrishnan, an advocate, the top court passed its order on November 3, directing the CID Bengaluru to hand over all materials to the CBI within two weeks.

It also set aside the charge sheet against the deceased and ordered CID Bengaluru to pay Rs 1 lakh as cost to the petitioner within four weeks.

The petitioner claimed his son Rohit Radhakrishnan, an MBBS student at AJ Medical Institute Kuntikana, Mangaluru, had died under extremely mysterious circumstances on March 22, 2014. His body was found severed from the head, he claimed, adding the deceased had a Honda City car and he was never in the habit of riding motorcycles.

The plea cited several circumstances, including the role of friends of the deceased, claiming Arjun Panicker and Gopikrishnan, who were with the deceased right before he went missing. "Their role is highly suspicious and the explanations that they offered to is riddled with improbabilities and contradictions," the father claimed.

He also accused his son's teacher Dr Jayaprakash of embalming the body of the deceased, which ensured no second post mortem could be conducted. He said Dr Jayaprakash harboured a grudge against his son, as his complaint following an alleged ragging incident in 2009 had resulted his removal as hostel warden.

In its order, the top court also directed the CBI to file a status report before the Karnataka High Court every two months.

"The CBI, Bengaluru, Karnataka is expected to conclude the investigation as early as possible considering the fact that the incident is of 2014 and the petitioner-father of the deceased is waiting for justice," the bench said.