Madras HC orders SIT probe into murder of minister KN Nehru’s brother – The New Indian Express

Express News Service

CHENNAI: As the Tamil Nadu Police’s Crime Branch-CID and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to “break the ice” even after almost 10 years of investigating the murder of State minister KN Nehru’s brother Tiruchy Ramajayam, the Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered for a special investigation team (SIT) to launch a fresh probe.

The team, headed by Thoothukudi SP S Jeyakumar, will have officials of the State police and the Central agency, including Ariyalur DSP Mathan and CBI DSP R Ravi, said Justice V Bharathidasan. The court will monitor the exercise.

“Though almost 10 years have elapsed, a premier investigating wing of the State, the CB-CID, and the CBI, could not even find the motive behind the murder. This is a very unfortunate situation,” the judge said, and directed CB-CID DGP Mohammed Shakeel Akhter to monitor the investigation. The interim order was passed on a petition filed by Ramajayam’s brother KN Ravichandran, who sought for the probe to be handed back to the State police.

Transferring the investigation from the CBI to the State police wouldn’t serve any useful purpose, and forming an SIT with dedicated and efficient officers alone would bring the case to its logical conclusion at the earliest, Justice Bharathidasan said.

He also directed the SIT to begin the investigation by February 21, and file a status report every fortnight, starting from March 7. The judge also told the registry to place the matter before the Acting Chief Justice as requested by the petitioner’s counsel, NR Elango, and State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah, for further orders.

The body of Ramajayam, who wielded much political clout in Tiruchy, was found tied up and bundled on the banks of the Cauvery on March 29, 2012. The probe was handed over to the CBI in 2017.