KOZHIKODE: The Crime Branch had not specifically probed the involvement of any external forces in the killings of nine fishermen at Marad village on May 2, 2003, the Inspector General of Police (Crimes), Mahesh Kumar Singla, told the Marad Judicial Inquiry Commission here on Friday.

In his deposition before the Commission, Thomas P. Joseph, the IG said he had not given any specific instructions to the investigating officers to probe the role of any organisation. The investigation of the Crime Branch had been limited to the issue of the incident. No further probe had been conducted because the Crime Branch could not obtain any evidence pointing to the involvement of any organisation, said Mr. Singla, who had supervised the investigation.

He said that some of the accused had been activists of the National Development Front (NDF) and others were sympathisers of political parties. The officers checked up and verified certain facts whether any organisation had been behind the incident. ``I can say only about the evidences I collected,'' he said to a query whether the Crime Branch did not rule out the possibility of the role of external forces.

Apart from newspaper reports, the IG said he was unaware of the intelligence reports of the State Special Branch and a counter-petition filed by the Additional Home Secretary, Shobana Kumari Amma, before the High Court of Kerala stating about the flocking of men and smuggling of weapons to Marad.

``The Crime Branch did not investigate the intelligence reports because our field of investigation was limited to the crime,'' he said.

Asked whether as a senior IPS officer and having supervised the investigation he should have gone through the intelligence reports, Mr. Singla said, ``We were asked to investigate the killings ... we have established the motive and conspiracy with maximum evidences ... we also arrested the accused. In my supervisory capacity, I felt that the case was complete.''

He said the Crime Branch did not get the opportunity to interrogate Latheef, an accused, who surrendered before the court after the case had been charge-sheeted. He was not an accused in the Coimbatore blast case. ``The role of Latheef was clear from other witnesses, so we did not interrogate him,'' he said in reply to a question why he did not invoke Section 173 (A) of the Cr.PC to question him.

Mr. Singla said that investigation had been conducted into the smuggling of 35 swords and 18 bombs to Marad. But no investigation had been conducted into the meeting that Nafi, another accused, had with Abdul Nasir Maudany, key accused in the Coimbatore serial blast case. Koyamon, an accused in the Marad case, was still absconding, he said.

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