HC asks police to inform it of progress in probe of killing of 2 YC workers

The Kerala High Court Tuesday directed the state police to apprise it by April 12 of the progress in a probe into the killing of two Youth Congress workers allegedly by CPI(M) activists at Kasaragod last month.

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inform the court about its stand on a plea filed by the parents of the deceased Youth Congress workers, seeking a CBI probe into the killings.

Youth Congress workers, Sarath Lal and Kripesh, were returning home after attending a local function on February 17 when they were stopped by a gang travelling in a car and hacked to death.

Expressing unhappiness over the Crime Branch probe, the petitioners (parents) had stated that it was "an eye-wash, tainted, malafide and one-sided".

They also said that the crime branch probing the case recorded their statements in which they narrated the "conspiracy" of top-level district CPI(M) leaders.

Following this, the official who recorded their statements was abruptly removed from the team and another officer was posted, they alleged.

Later, the entire investigation team was re-constituted with officers loyal to the CPI(M), the petitioners alleged.

They also alleged that they had no faith in the present investigation, which was "totally partial and one-sided and defective".