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Hyderabad: Nearly four years after the body of a young Scheduled Tribe (ST) law graduate was fished out of a canal in Telangana, the High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the case, citing grave lapses and a reasonable apprehension of bias in the probes conducted by local police and the CID.

The Telangana High Court, in its order, directed the CBI to register a fresh case and investigate all angles, including murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and caste-based motives under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, preferably within six months.

The case pertains to the death of 22-year-old Dharawath Nikhil, a law graduate from Suryapet, whose body was recovered from a Nagarjuna Sagar project canal in October 2022. His family has long suspected an honour killing, alleging that Nikhil was murdered because of his relationship with a woman from an upper-caste family.

Probe marked by lapses, says HC

The High Court’s order came on a petition filed by the victim’s father, Dharawath Bhaskar, in November 2022, who alleged that the investigation was being influenced by powerful interests and that agencies were shielding those responsible.

The bench found merit in those concerns, observing that the investigations by local police and subsequently the CID were “marked by grave inconsistencies, patent investigative lapses and circumstances giving rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.”

It further noted that transferring the case from the police to the CID offered little assurance. “Although the investigation has been transferred to CID and the case is altered with murder charge (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code), the court is of the view that a mere intra-departmental transfer within the state machinery does not sufficiently dispel the apprehensions of bias, particularly when the initial investigation itself is under serious challenge,” the court said.

The Chilkur Police had initially registered a case of suspicious death, suspecting suicide, before altering it to murder following the family’s allegations of an honour killing.

Strangulation suspected

Referring to official case records, the court noted that inquest proceedings conducted at the government hospital in Kodad revealed that Nikhil’s body bore multiple injuries – on his left hand, ribs, thigh, face and neck. The neck region showed severe swelling of blood vessels and damage extending to the chest, leading investigators to suspect that he had been strangled before his body was dumped in the canal.

On the caste dimension of the case, the High Court said it “cannot overlook the specific allegations of a caste-based motive underlying the incident, given the deceased belonged to an ST community and was involved in a relationship opposed by the family of the girl.”

“Such irreconcilable investigation is vulnerable to serious doubt, thereby necessitating an independent, thorough, scientifically robust enquiry,” it added.

The CBI has been asked to re-examine the last-seen theory, call data records, digital evidence and closed circuit television (CCTV) footage related to the incident. The petition filed by the victim’s father has since been disposed of.