CBI to probe Catholic priest's murder

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will now probe the brutal murder of a Catholic priest in Karnataka in 2009.

The naked body of Fr James Mukalel, 39, was found on a roadside on July 30 in Belthangady, a division within Dakshina Kannada.

The priest met with tragic death when he was returning to his parish, after attending a funeral of one of his earlier parishioners.

Last month, the Karnataka High Court had directed the CBI to investigate the death of Fr Mukalel. Church authorities had received a copy of the order only recently.

The court has directed the chief secretary, principal home secretary, DGP, SP, DK district and SI, Belthangady PS to hand over records to CBI and provide necessary cooperation, media reported.

The first post-mortem conducted by doctors at district Wenlock Hospital had not been able to ascertain cause of death. The post-mortem report contained notable inconsistencies or contradictions.

Parents of Fr James and the diocesan officials strongly believed it to be a clear case of murder.

After the family insisted on a second post-mortem, it was revealed that the body had "ante-mortem injury wounds". The post-mortem was conducted at Calicut Medical College.

Fr James hails from Kannur district in Kerala and was the priest at St Mary's Church near Kutrapady in Puttur taluk.

A diocesan official earlier told media that the priest's murder appeared to be a case of murder as his body was found lying away from the motor bike he was riding.

Also, there were no clothes on the victim's body and it showed signs of suffocation.

The Belthangady diocese had witnessed violence against Christians in 2008.