Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 14 : Hours after the Supreme Court on Friday awarded him Rs 50 lakh compensation for the sufferings and ignominy he underwent after being arrested in an espionage case, former ISRO scientist S. Nambi Narayanan said the fight was finally over for him.

"I am happy that a (three-member) committee, and not a commission, has been formed to conduct an inquiry. Till now, it was a fight, but it's over now. I want to live for myself now. Enough is enough," he said.

Narayanan had moved the apex court for a probe into the false case foisted on him by Kerala Police and other agencies.

He had challenged a Kerala High Court judgment that upheld the state's decision not to take action against officials who falsely implicated him in the case, forcing him to stay behind bars for 50 days.

"It was a long-fought case, or rather a judicial war. Let the committee come out with the conspiracy behind the case. With this verdict, police officials should realise that they cannot escape their actions," Narayanan said.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud awarded him the compensation and directed for setting up of the committee led by former apex court Judge D.K. Jain to inquire into the role of officials for implicating him in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spy case.

These officials include then Inspector General of Police Siby Mathews and then Deputy Superintendents of Police K.K. Joshua and S. Vijayan.

The former ISRO scientist said he hoped that the committee will finish its job in three to six months.

He said that Rs 50 lakh will be paid by the state government and it's up to the state to decide if the money needs be recovered from the erring police officials.

The ISRO spy case surfaced in 1994 when Narayanan was arrested on charge of espionage along with another top ISRO official, two Maldivian women and a businessman.

After the CBI cleared him in 1995, he fought a legal battle against Mathews and other officials who probed the case.



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Ghaziabad (UP) (PTI): The Ghaziabad Police has suspended four personnel over presumed negligence and dereliction of duty after a detainee suffered severe injuries while allegedly fleeing from custody, a police official said on Friday.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Modinagar) Bhaskar Verma said one Amit Kumar (35), an outsourced employee at Patla Nagar Panchayat, was allegedly drinking alcohol with three of his friends at a public place on Tuesday night. When Niwari police station arrived and reprimanded them, an altercation ensued, and Amit was subsequently detained.

While police were taking him for medical examination at Community Health Centre Muradnagar, Amit reportedly jumped from the moving police vehicle near the health centre to escape. As he ran towards the Delhi-Meerut highway, he was hit by an oncoming truck and sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to Yashoda Hospital in Nehru Nagar, where he is currently undergoing treatment in the ICU.

The police personnel allegedly failed to report the truck accident to their senior officers initially, claiming instead that Amit had fallen and injured himself while attempting to flee.

The incident sparked outrage among locals and the family of the detainee, who alleged that Amit was brutally thrashed while in custody.

On Thursday, protesters gathered outside the Niwari police station for nearly an hour, raising slogans against the police. The situation was eventually brought under control after officials assured that stringent action would be taken.

In response, a delegation of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leaders met Police Commissioner J Ravindra Goud to submit a formal complaint demanding accountability for the Niwari police station personnel.

On Thursday evening, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari issued the suspension order against Patla police outpost in-charge Sub-Inspector Lokendra, Sub-Inspector Shaid Khan, Head Constable Sachin Mohan and Constable Narendra.

Additionally, the role of Niwari Station House Officer KK Maurya is under investigation, and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against the errant personnel, Verma said.