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Paresh Mesta death was an accident: CBI reiterates
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its ‘B’ report has reiterated that the death of 18-year-old Paresh Mesta is an accident even as he had attended the then Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s programme in Kumta city adaybefore he went missing, according to the probe report filed by the central agency
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its ‘B’ report has reiterated that the death of 18-year-old Paresh Mesta is an accident even as he had attended the then Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s programme in Kumta city adaybefore he went missing, according to the probe report filed by the central agency.
Mesta’s body was recovered from a pond “under mysterious circumstances” in Honnavar in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district on December 6, 2017, soon after which communal riots broke out in the area.
In the report submitted before a local court on Monday in Honnavar, the CBI stated: “Mesta died after slipping into a pond while trying to run away from a communal clash”. The court will pronounce the verdict on November 16.
The CBI filed a closure report in connection with Mesta’s death five years after the incident in 2022.
The CBI’s B report has termed the death as an accident, citing the post-mortem and forensic reports. The B report also cites the non-availability of evidence to corroborate the murder accusation made in the first information report (FIR).
The report said that Mesta had attended Siddaramaiah’s programme in Kumta city of Uttara Kannada district after travelling about 25 kilometres with friends. After returning home, he again went out to meet his friends and never returned, the report read. The CBI has also submitted statements of his friends and CCTV footage of the day as evidence before the court.
An investigating officer wrote a letter to Mesta’s family in October first week stating that the probe had established that his death was an accident. “During the investigation, no incriminating evidence has emerged showing the involvement of accused persons and the medico-legal evidence/opinion collected from multiple institutions clearly established the cause of death of Paresh Mesta as anti-mortem drowning. Accordingly, a final report (closure report) is being filed before the jurisdictional court,” read the letter.
Over the years, Mesta had become the face of Hindutva politics for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2018 elections. The BJP which was in Opposition in Karnataka at the time had claimed that it “was a communal murder of a Sangh Parivar worker by a Muslim gang”.
In the days following the murder BJP’s Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje had claimed that “hot oil was poured on his body resulting in the body turning black” and had alleged that the murder was carried out by “jihadi elements”. She also claimed that a “Shivaji tattoo was removed from Mesta’s body by ripping his skin away”.
The case was handed over to the CBI by the then Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah 10 days after the death amid the allegations. According to an officer who supervised the case in 2017, “Mesta died while running away from a communal tension triggered by a road accident between a Muslim motorcyclist and a Hindu auto-rickshaw driver”.
“On 1 December, two processions – Hanuman Jayanti and Eid Milan – were to take place in Chandavar, a village 5 km away from the Honnavar. As per tradition, the Hindu community takes the Hanuman idol on a palanquin. Following meetings with the local administration, the decision on fixing different times for the two processions was taken. However, an issue broke out between the communities, over the Muslims placing green flags and other religious materials on the common route,” said the IPS officer, who did not want to be named.
While the area was already tense over the issue, on December 6, alongside a temple festival, members from Muslim community were distributing non-vegetarian food as part of their Eid celebrations, persons in the know of the development said. Some people took objection to this, and this further increased the tensions, said the persons cited above.
“On December 6, at an area less than 1 km away from the ground, an accident took place between a Muslim motorcyclist and a Hindu auto-rickshaw driver. An argument over this led to a fight and a day later Mesta’s body was found in a pond nearby. Our initial finding was that he died of drowning and the forensic report also confirmed that he was not tortured as claimed,” the officer added.
The forensic report, quoted by the officer, was issued by Kasturba hospital in Manipal on December 11, 2017. “The change in the colour of the deceased’s face is due to putrefaction. The fingers and toes of the deceased are in normal condition. There is no evidence suggestive of assault,” the report had concluded.
The deceased’s father Kamalakar Mesta said that even though the CBI has given a closure report in the case, he still believes it is a murder.
“The CBI has said that we (the family) can fight the case further. So, we will discuss and take a decision (to proceed with the case),” he said.
The Congress has set a 15-day deadline for BJP leaders “to be booked for misleading the CBI investigation with false information” on the death of Mesta. “The BJP should apologise to Paresh’s family and the youth of Dakshina Kannada,” KPCC communications chief Priyank Kharge said.
“The likes of Shobha Karandlaje, K S Eshwarappa, C T Ravi, Nalin Kumar Kateel and Anantkumar Hegde should be booked for spreading false information on his death. If suo motu action is not taken within 15 days, the Congress will file a complaint with the CBI against BJP leaders for misleading the investigation,” he said.
BJP MLA CT Ravi meanwhile said that the party will support the family of Paresh Mesta if they want a reinvestigation of the case. “We stand with the Mesta family if they want to go for an appeal also,” he said.
