The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, reserved its order on a plea moved by Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu’s wife, Manjusha, seeking a CBI investigation into her husband’s death. The counsel of Manjusha submitted before the court that the inquest report indicates the presence of bloodstains on the undergarments of the deceased. However, there is no mention of any blood or stain in the postmortem findings.

This discrepancy leaves the source of bloodstains on the undergarments unexplained, raising suspicion, advocate John S Ralph, counsel for Manjusha, argued before the court.

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Manjusha, Naveen Babu’s wife, moved the high court seeking a CBI probe into her husband’s death, claiming that the state police investigation is not proceeding in the right direction. Arguing for handing over the probe relating to the death of Naveen Babu to the CBI, Manjusha’s counsel submitted that as the inquest was conducted before the postmortem, it was incumbent upon the investigating officer to seek clarification from the medical examiner regarding this observation. The possibility of the deceased sustaining internal injuries cannot be ruled out.

He submitted that in all cases of unnatural deaths, viscera are preserved and sent for toxicological analysis to rule out the possibility of poisoning. However, in this case, neither the viscera nor blood samples were preserved or submitted for examination.

It’s unclear how Naveen Babu, weighing 55 kg, could have hung himself from a small rope. The marks on the neck found during the inquest wasn’t mentioned in the post-mortem report, he submitted Naveen Babu’s wife has alleged that the accused, former president of the Kannur District Panchayat, P P Divya, possessed significant political influence, raising concerns that the investigation might be sabotaged.

Kannur ADM Naveen Babu was found dead at his official residence in Pallikkunnu, Kannur, on the morning of October 15. He allegedly took his life after facing public humiliation and corruption accusations made by PP Divya, then the Kannur District Panchayat President, at the farewell meeting on October 14. Divya had accused him of intentionally delaying the issuance of an NOC to Prasanthan to start a petrol pump at Chengalai in Kannur.