Muthoot murder: CBI's plea for custody of 10 accused rejected

A local court today rejected the plea of CBI, investigating the murder of prominent businessmen Paul Muthoot George, for custody of 10 accused for interrogation, but it allowed their questioning in sub-jail premises here.     When the petition filed by CBI assistant superintendent of police Nandakumar came up, Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate KA Baby said the probe agency is conducting further investigation and not re-investigation.Hence the prayer for further remand in police custody of the accused cannot be granted, the court said. It is true that custodial interrogation of the accused is most urgent and hence the CBI can question the 10 accused -- Jayachandran, Satheesh Kumar, Sathar, Abi, Sujith, Sulfikkar, Faisal, Sabeer, Omprakash and P Rajesh -- in the Ernakulam sub jail from 9 am to 5 pm for a week from today. The accused can be questioned in isolation or collectively, the court held.George, scion of the multi-crore Muthoot group, was hacked to death by a criminal gang in August last year.