A 'suspect' in the death of former Sivagiri Mutt head Swami Saswathikananda has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into the case, days after the state government ordered further probe in the matter.
In his petition, P P Priyan dismissed the allegations made by Thiruvananthapuram-based businessman Biju Ramesh that SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan and his son Tushar "appointed" him as a "mercenary" to murder Swami Saswathikananda".
Claiming that the allegations are "baseless and fictitious", Priyan said he "does not have any acquaintance vis-a-vis Swami Saswathikananda's death".
He recalled that the Crime Branch had filed a final report in 2013 closing the case as death due to drowning.
Noting that further probe into the seer's death has been ordered by the state government on the eve of local bodies polls, he said in his petition "the suspicious role of the present investigating agency in investigating the cause of the death, the political involvement etc, would demand for a probe to be conducted" by the CBI.
"Swami's death hurt the sentiments of the public at large and led to disruptions in public life as well. The petitioner--the so-called suspect has a constitutional and legal right to contemplate this proceeding as he is being needlessly tormented due to the wild accusations against him, due to which, he is being deprived of a right to happy life, which is an inalienable part under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the petition said.
The Swami was found drowned in the Periyar river at Aluva in July 2002.
On October 31, the state government announced further investigation into the Swami's death following a Crime Branch report citing new revelations in the case.
The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam is an organisation of the backward Ezhava community in the state.
