Sreejeev Death: 783 Days On, Brother Sreejith Calls Off Protest

Sreejith, who had been protesting for 783 days, demanded a CBI probe into his brother Sreejeev’s custodial death.

After Sreejith’s protest demanding justice for his brother gained massive support from people across Kerala, he called off his agitation on Wednesday, 31 January, after the CBI recorded his statement.

Once his statement was taken, Sreejith declared that he was happy about the development.

We were told that investigation is progressing. So far, I am satisfied and happy with how the CBI enquiry is going on.

Sreejith told the media

Sreejith and his mother, Remani, reached the CBI office in Thiruvananthapuram a little after 11 am.

Sreejith has been protesting for 783 days in front of the Kerala Secretariat demanding a CBI probe into his brother Sreejeev’s death, who died in police custody.

Even though the agency finally agreed to investigate his brother’s death on 19 January, Sreejith continued his protest, saying that he would end it only once there is clarity about the probe. At the time, Sreejith’s mother Remani demanded that the police personnel responsible for Sreejeev’s death be suspended.

We need to see that the probe actually begins to end the protest. My son’s health has deteriorated after being on protest for so long. We want justice. 

Remani had told the media earlier

In May 2014, Sreejeev was taken into custody by the Parassala police on allegations of theft. Days later, he died in a hospital.

While police officials maintain that Sreejeev consumed poison, his family accused the officers of murder and cited custodial torture as the reason for his death.

In 2016, the Police Complaint Authority investigation found that his death was indeed caused by custodial torture and the police version of the events was concluded as false.

In September 2016, the Kerala government asked the Director General of Police to hand over the probe to a Special Investigations Team (SIT). While Sreejith and his family were granted a compensation of Rs 10 lakh by the state government, they continued to demand that the police officers responsible for Sreejeev’s death be suspended.

Sreejith’s protest for his brother stirred public conscience in Kerala, with a number of actors, including Nivin Pauly, Tovino Thomas, Parvathy and Prithiviraj, among others, demanding justice. A parallel social media campaign also gathered storm, culminating in a protest in solidarity for Sreejith on 14 January.

A day later, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met Sreejith and Remani and promised that the state would write again to the Centre seeking a CBI probe.

(The story was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission)