Kerala Home Minister orders probe into Gyanesh Kumar over 2006 case

The investigation centers on allegations that the initial 2006 inquiry into the death of Lee See Been, an engineer for the PATI-BEL consortium, was compromised by external pressure. The Home Department is now retrieving original files to determine if the preliminary probe was derailed. Chennithala stated that the claims regarding outside influence are serious enough to warrant a comprehensive re-examination of the case.

Simultaneously, the Chief Election Commissioner faces mounting pressure from the opposition INDIA bloc, which is organizing nationwide protests. Beyond the 2006 case, questions regarding the Election Commission’s internal operations have surfaced. Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram recently urged State Electoral Officers to disclose directives received during Special Intensive Revision exercises, citing concerns over the legality of the process. Reports indicate that fellow Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have previously documented objections regarding voter registration and database access, though the Election Commission maintains that all its final decisions were reached unanimously.