Kerala Govt orders judicial probe into custodial deaths

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 16 (UNI) Alarmed over the spate of custodial deaths, the Kerala Government today ordered a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge into the 13 deaths in custody during the past three months.

The Cabinet decision came in the wake of an indefinite agitation launched by the Opposition Congress to press for a comprehensive inquiry into the spate of custodial deaths ever since the Marxist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power.

Briefing newspersons after a meeting of the state Cabinet, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said the government would write to the High Court Chief Justice seeking the service of a sitting judge to probe the cases.

He said the Cabinet had also approved a proposal to appoint former Chief Secretary C Ramachandran as adviser to Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

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