CBI files charge sheet in Kerala’s Muthoot murder case

KOCHI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team that probed the murder of Muthoot Paul M. George Friday submitted its charge sheet to the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate’s court. The charge sheet is more or less similar to the one by Kerala Police.

The agency filed two separate charge sheets, one on the murder of the scion of the leading business house and the other related to the conspiracy hatched for the killing.

The CBI indicted 28 as accused, while Kerala Police had named 25. In both charge sheets the first and second accused are the same: Jayachandran and K. Satish, the person who is suspected to have stabbed George to death.

It was in January 2010 that a division bench of the Kerala High Court gave the nod for a CBI probe into the controversial murder after M.G. George Muthoot, father of George, demanded it in October 2009.

Paul George was murdered under suspicious circumstances near Alappuzha Aug 21, 2009, while travelling in a car with two others - Om Prakash and Rajesh, who face several criminal cases.

The police had arrested all the accused, including Prakash and Rajesh.

The only difference in the two charge sheets is that while Kerala Police recovered a knife from the accused Satish’s home, CBI recovered the actual weapon that was used. The three people who helped to hide the weapon have also been included as accused.

George’s father demanded a CBI probe claiming that Kerala Police were conducting the investigation following a pre-written script. He also said that the state police used the electronic media to propagate false theories to help the real culprits.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also had to face the heat after media reports on his son’s alleged involvment in the case.

Reacting to the CBI charge sheet, top Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader M.V. Jayarajan asked the media and the Congress-led opposition to apologise for propagating false stories that only tarnished the party’s image.

“Instead of applauding the efforts of Kerala Police, who did a neat job and arrested all the accused in a matter of days, they were being admonished. Now that the truth has come out, those who threw stones should apologise,” demanded Jayarajan.