Former investigating officer in the Suryanelli gangrape case K. Ittoop on Wednesday backed Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien saying he was not involved in the infamous case that continues to haunt the Congress politician since the past 17 years. Mr Ittoop, who headed the investigation team in the case before Sibi Mathews took over, told reporters here that Mr Kurien was not involved in the case. The former superintendent of police, who was removed from the team when the CPI(M)-led LDF government headed by E.K. Nayanar was in power, claimed it was done after he allegedly refused to implicate Mr Kurien in the case. Mr Ittoop, who now resides in Udupi, said he had conducted a “thorough and honest” investigation in the case. Mr Kurien had never visited the Kumily guesthouse on Feb 19, 1996 as alleged by the victim, Mr Ittoop said, adding, he had made a thorough probe in this regard. He alleged that investigations had revealed that the victim was not speaking the truth, but was being “prompted” by someone else. When Mr Ittoop was returning after the press meet at the Press Club here, some activists of All India Youth Front (AIYF), youth wing of CPI, blocked his car. Four of them were taken into custody by the police. Meanwhile, Mr Kurien rejected demands for his resignation saying the controversy is a conspiracy by his political adversaries. Brushing aside the new twists and turns in the case, he said “there is nothing new in the so-called revelations. It is the same allegations, which the courts had then inquired into and found it humanly impossible.”
