Will there be a multi-agency probe?: Marad

KOZHIKODE: Will the government order a ‘multi-agency probe’ into the larger conspiracy behind the Marad massacre as recommended by the Thomas P Joseph Commission, or wind up the entire procedure by taking action against the IAS and IPS officers?

The major recommendation of the Commission is a further probe to find out whether any external agency had any role in the massacre and how the fund was mopped up for the operation.

The Crime Branch had concluded that the massacre was masterminded and executed by the friends and relatives of those killed in the violence in 2001 and no organisation had any role in the violence.

Recommending action against Crime Branch IG Mahesh Kumar Singla the Commission has made it clear that the probe by the agency was far from satisfactory.

The Commission has suggested another joint probe by agencies like the CBI, DRI and the Crime Branch. Recently, the Kerala High court also had ordered a joint probe into the case related to the blast in a fishing craft at Beypore. Dereliction of duty on the part of the officers is only a minor part of the recommendations of the Commission.

The Commission has stated in the report that extremist organisations having international links are operating in the state. It also said that successive governments have failed to take the issue seriously as they are preoccupied with vote bank politics.

The finding has relevance particularly against the backdrop of increasing communalisation of Kerala society. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also has admitted that extremist ideology is spreading in the state.

It would be interesting to see how the LDF Government reacts to the Commissions finding in this regard.