The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet on the Nedumkandam custody death of Rajkumar. In the chargesheet submitted to the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate, the agency names nine people associated with the case, and the then Sub Inspector KA Sabu as the first accused. Moreover, the CBI will also investigate the then SP Venugopal, DySP Shamsudheen, jail officials, and the medical staff associated with the case.
The Bureau claims that Rajkumar’s death is a result of torture while under illegal custody, adding that the police filed false evidence against the deceased. The initial Crime Branch probe into Rajkumar's death included seven accused, while the Bureau added a head constable and a female police officer in theirs.
On January 7, retired Justice K Narayana Kurup had submitted the report of the judicial probe into the custodial death. The report claimed that Rajkumar’s death was due to custodial torture and it highlights the actions to be taken against the accused police officers. The report says that the police had violated countless laws and norms set by courts to hide their crime, and they even subverted postmortem procedures.
In the mid of June 2019, Nedumkandam police had arrested Wagamon-resident Rajkumar concerning the Haritha Finance fraud, when he was its Managing Director. The police had decided that they would recover the money without registering custody. The police resorted to torture and third degree, and when Rajkumar’s situation worsened, the officials tricked the magistrate and sent him into judicial custody. From there, Rajkumar was taken to a Taluk Hospital as his condition began deteriorating further, and he succumbed to his injuries on June 21 of the same year at the hospital.
