‘My superior officer told me to do that but I said I won’t | Abhaya case | Exclusive HD

Here is the former CBI officer, who had first opined that Abhaya case was a case of murder even when the local police and the Crime branch wrote it off as a suicide case. He is the former DySP Varghese P Thomas. As all are anxiously waiting for the CBI special court’s verdict in the case on December 22, the officer talked to Kerala Kaumudi’s Deputy Editor V S Rajesh in an exclusive interview. Could you talk about the investigation days after you took over the case? I was the regional DySP of CBI’s Ernakulam unit. At that time some people went and met the then Chief Minister K Karunakaran over Abhaya Case that was investigated by local police. Don’t leave the case like that. That was a murder, they told Karunakaran. After that the chief minister wrote to the Union home ministry, seeking a CBI inquiry into the case. When the request was accepted, the case came to me for investigation. After making a preliminary visit to the place where Abhaya’s body was found, I met my superior officer. I requested him to include in my team officers who could be trusted. He accepted that condition. And, officers Azeez, Shajahan and Surendran joined me. What about those injuries found on Abhaya’s body ? Though most of the witnesses turned hostile, what helped the investigation team to ascertain that Abhaya was murdered was scientific evidence. Pious Tenth Convent inmates tried to make us believe that Abhaya had committed suicide by jumping into the well. When we pulled out her body, upward scratch mark was seen on her lap. Abhaya might have fallen into the well with leg portion going down first. Bruises found on the back side of the lap might have caused as it would have scratched against the wall during the fall into the well. Normally a person falling into the well in upright position doesn’t injure the centre of the head but that part of Abhaya’s head had 4 inch long wound. The forensic test result showed that that wound might have be caused hitting her head with some heavy object. That day, Abhaya woke up early in the morning for studies and went to the kitchen for drinking water. But her slipper was seen near the fridge in the dining room. The door of the fridge was open. There was a water bottle with holed cap on the floor and water was oozing out of the bottle An axe was always kept in corner of the work area adjacent to the room. After Abhaya’s murder, that axe had disappeared from that place. The exit door was seen locked with latch lock from outside. Such evidence and the statements of other inmates in Abhaya’s room became crucial in the case. Besides that, the forensic department’s evidence also helped the investigation. That day Abhaya had seen the persons accused in the case near the kitchen area early morning. This might have led to her murder. Abhaya had no circumstance that would have forced her to commit suicide. A week before her murder, Abhaya’s mother and father had visited the convent and met her. Abhaya had the habit of writing diary