No need for CBI probe into Dr Vandana Das’ killing: Kerala govt in Assembly

PTI, Feb 14, 2024, 12:57 PM IST

The Kerala government on Wednesday said in the Assembly that the probe into the killing of Dr Vandana Das by a patient was properly carried out by the state police and therefore, there was no need to hand over investigation of the case to the CBI as sought by the victim’s parents.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the probe was carried out and a charge sheet submitted in court by police without any delay.

For the same reasons, the Kerala High Court dismissed the victim’s parents’ plea for CBI investigation, he said.

”So, on what basis can the government order a CBI probe?” Vijayan asked UDF MLA Mons Joseph who invited the CM’s attention to the victim’s parents’ desire for a CBI probe of the case.

Joseph also asked the CM whether the government would consider appointing a special squad or team to investigate the claims of the parents with regard to alleged shortcomings in the police probe, to which Vijayan replied in the negative.

”There is no need for any special squad or team to investigate anything,” the CM said.

Vijayan also said that in order to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future, the state government issued a comprehensive medico-legal protocol in September last year.

The Kerala High Court had last week dismissed the parents’ plea for a CBI probe into the killing of Dr Vandana Das by a patient at a taluk hospital in Kollam district in May last year, saying there was no reason to doubt the integrity or credibility of the police investigation.

However, a day later, the victim’s family had criticised the government for ”vehemently opposing” their plea in the High Court.

Vandana Das’ father, Mohandas, had also said that the family would file an appeal against the single bench verdict dismissing their plea for a CBI probe.

Dr Das was a native of Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents. She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.

The accused — G Sandeep — was a school teacher by profession and was taken to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 when he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.

He had initially attacked the police officers and a private person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young doctor who could not escape to safety.

She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.