Notwithstanding the NIA's ongoing Supreme Court-ordered probe into the alleged love jehad case in Kerala, the State Government has told the apex court there was no need for an investigation by a Central agency. It said a detailed investigation by its "efficient" police did not reveal any foreign hand or link with global terror groups behind the alleged forcible conversion of a Hindu girl to Islam and whose later marriage to a Muslim man was annulled by the Kerala High Court.
In an affidavit filed before the apex court on Friday, the State said that its investigation so far denied the accusation leveled by the girl's father complaining that his daughter was forcibly converted at the behest of an Islamic institution that later married her off to a man with alleged criminal background.
It said, "The Kerala Police had conducted a thorough investigation in an efficient manner…the investigation conducted so far by the Kerala Police has not revealed any incident relating to commission of any scheduled offences to make a report to the Central Government under Section 6 of the NIA Act 2008." In August 2017, the apex court directed NIA to take over the probe from Kerala police and gave time for the specialised anti-terror agency to complete its probe under the supervision of a retired SC judge.
The State Government informed the Court that detailed investigation had been carried out into the incidents related to the conversion of Akhila to Islamic faith, the role of various persons involved in such conversion, the Islamic institution where she studied, the details of persons with whom she was in touch, the background of her Muslim husband Shafin Jahan, incidents leading to their marriage, and the possibility of Akhila alias Hadiya's trafficking outside the country.
The affidavit stated that the State police did a thorough job to probe each aspect of the case and was competent to conclude investigations. However, when the apex court directed all case records to be handed to the NIA, the State police complied with the said direction. It went on to further submit that the Kerala Police "would have reported to the Central Government if any Scheduled Offence was found to have been committed during such investigation as per the provisions of the NIA Act."