Case of mistaken identity? Sreejith death case in further twist

Kochi: The arrest of Sreejith 26, who later died at a private hospital while in police custody, is getting further complicated with the complainant in the case stating the youth’s arrest was a case of mistaken identity.

Indicating that the police wrongly arrested Sreejith, K.V. Vineesh, identified as the complainant said on Tuesday that he did not see the deceased youth among the attackers.

“The Sreejith about whom I complained was another person bearing the same name and staying in the same locality. The police are yet to arrest any of the main accused as per our complaint,” Mr. Vineesh said.

Vineesh claims he had never complained against S.R. Sreejith, the youth who died in the hospital while in police custody, or his brother Sajith.

He said that they could identify six of the 14-member gang that attacked them. But the Sreejith who died at a hospital at Cheranellor on Monday was not one among them.

However, the police, dismiss the claim and assert that they arrested the culprit as mentioned in the complaint. The police said that they have the statement of Vineesh signed and mentioning the same Sreejith as one of the accused. The police also say that they had taken statements of all victims before starting the investigation and all the accused were identified with the help of neighbours.

The incidents followed the death by suicide of K.M. Vasudevan, 54, a native of Devaswompadam, on Friday after a gang forcefully entered his house and reportedly assaulted and threatened him over a scuffle with a neighbour the previous night.

The Varappuzha police took Sreejith into custody from his house at night the same day. His mother said the police assaulted him in front of her while being taken to the police station and also did not allow her to meet him . Due to complaints of severe stomach ache and difficulty in passing urine, he was admitted to a private hospital.

The doctors conducted an emergency surgery immediately after detecting internal injury to his small intestine. Then he was put in the emergency care unit. However, his condition worsened on Monday noon and he died at 6.45 p.m.

The police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the death of Sreejith, with IG Crime Branch S Sreejith as the principal investigator.

State Police Chief Loknath Behera tasked Additional Director General of Police, South Zone, Anil Kanth to head the team. Crime Branch Inspector General of Police S. Sreejith will be the principal investigator.