A special probe by the Kerala Police’s Crime Branch into the conspiracy behind the May 2, 2003 massacre at Marad fishing village in Kozhikode district in which eight Hindus were hacked to death has come to an end for all practical purposes without any convincing conclusion.
The Crime Branch’s special investigation team has reportedly concluded that evidences are not available to prove any conspiracy, external involvement or terror connection behind the massacre. Officials who were in charge of the investigation originally are presently engaged in other assignments.
The previous CPI(M)-headed lDF Government had instituted the probe in June, 2010 by a team of Crime Branch officials headed by Superintendent of Police CM Pradeep Kumar into the alleged conspiracy behind the massacre but this official was transferred after the Congress-led UDF Government, in which Muslim league was a major partner, assumed office in 2011.
The special team had September, 2010 submitted an FIR in a Kozhikode court, according to which senior Muslim league leader MC Mayin Haji and its Beypore area leader PP Moideen Koya had been suspected of indulging in criminal conspiracy for the massacre and aiding and abetting the crime.
After the change in the Government, Pradeep Kumar was shifted to the police headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram in the name of routine transfer and the charge of the probe was assigned to Superintendent of Police A Valsan, head of the Crime Branch’s economic offences wing. Valsan is reportedly looking into hundreds of cases of “money chain” economic offences presently.
Reports say that another member of the special probe team, Deputy Superintendent of Police AJ Babu of the internal security wing has not yet started his work related to the probe into the Marad massacre. DySP Sabu, yet another member of the team, has not been able to continue with the Marad probe as he has got a handful of Vigilance cases to look into.
“In short, nothing serious is happening in the special investigation into the Marad incident,” said a former senior official of the Kerala Police. “In other words, the probe into the conspiracy angle has totally been frozen. You cannot find fault with people who are alleging that the Government has sabotaged the investigation,” he said.
The former lDF Government had constituted a special prone team of the Crime Branch following intense demands for a CBI probe into the massacre, the recommendation of the judicial commission into the Marad incident for a Central probe into the conspiracy angle and an observation on the same lines by the Kerala High Court.
Quite surprisingly, the State Government or the Home Minister has so far shown no concern at the failure of the special Crime Branch team in finding evidences. Though the former lDF government was in office till May, 2011, it too had not bothered to take follow-up measures on the FIR registered in September, 2010.
In a nightly attack on May 2, 2003, eight Hindu fishermen were hacked to death at Marad, a fishing village near Beypore harbor in Kozhikode district. A Muslim also had lost life in the incident. Despite the obvious planning gone into it, the incident was described as a reaction to the Marad 1 riots of January
2-3, 2002 in which five persons
were killed.
The trial court had on December 27, 2008 convicted 63 of the total 139 accused and on January 15, 2009 sentenced 62 of them to life imprisonment while awarding five-year jail term to one. The High Court, while considering the appeals from the Prosecution, relatives of victims and the convicts themselves in August, 2012, sentenced 24 more to life imprisonment.