‘Top CBI officials had contacted Haridath'

KOCHI: The two CBI officials named in CBI ASP P G Haridath’s suicide note on Monday submitted before the Ernakulam Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that two high-level CBI officials had contacted Haridath hours before his unnatural death.
SP Pashion and Thiruvananthapuram Unit ASP Nandakumar Nair were the officials against whom the allegation was made by the two petitioners.
S Unnikrishnan Nair and K K Rajan, who were inspectors in the Thiruvananthapuram branch, made the submission when an application challenging their transfer to Guwahati and Kolkata came up for hearing before the tribunal. The petitioners also sought a directive to the CBI to produce the case diary (CD) in the Sampath custodial death case.
They contended that the case diary relating to the period from June 16, 2010, to December 4, 2010, and December 5, 2010, to April 1, 2011, and again from April 2, 2011, substantiate that the CD was manipulated by Haridath, Nanda Kumar Nair and Ashok Kumar to save two IPS officers. There was pressure to make changes in the CD.  The petitioners also submitted that Ashok Kumar and Nanda Kumar Nair had also pressurised Haridath to change the statements already produced before the court which was the part of charge sheet submitted on June 20, 2011. This had led Haridath to commit suicide after suffering from mental ailments for a long time.  “The top officials completely sabotaged the work carried out by Haridath and his team. The officials also intimidated the Chief Investigating Officer since the first week of April, 2011. Nanda Kumar and Ashok Kumar were controlling Haridath with others,” the petition pointed out.
CAT extended the interim order to the CBI to maintain status quo till June 12 on the transfer of two of its inspectors. The CAT had also directed the CBI that petitioners S Unnikrishnan Nair and K K Rajan may not be forced to join at new locations.
The petitioners moved CAT, alleging that the transfer order was issued as part of the superior officers’ plan to exonerate two top IPS officers Vijay Sakhare and Muhammed Yasin from the Sampath case. Under the cover of Haridath’s suicide note, the CBI top cops have transferred the duo, they said. Counsel for petitioners Pirappancode V S Sudheer submitted that evidence collected from the beginning of the Sampath case was supervised by Nanda Kumar and Ashok with the help of the legal officers of the CBI in New Delhi.
 He also sought a directive to quash the transfer of the petitioners.