Thrissur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday took over the probe into the mysterious death of popular film actor Kalabhavan Mani last year.
The Central agency took over the case files from Chalakudy police Thursday afternoon, police sources said.
The CBI will have to re-register the case and begin investigations afresh, the sources added.
Kerala High Court had last month ordered CBI to take over the probe after rejecting the agency's stand that it cannot investigate the case due to workload.
Mani's wife Nimmi and brother R.L.V. Ramakrishnan had approached the court seeking CBI probe into the actor's death. The Kerala government had in June 11 last year decided to hand over the case to the CBI.
However, the agency had turned it down saying its hands were full as it was investigating many other cases. Mani, a popular actor in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films, was found unconscious at his farmhouse at Chalakudy.
He later died at a hospital in Kochi on March 6 last year. However, after traces of chlorpyrifos, a toxic pesticide, was found in his viscera sample and methyl alcohol were found in his blood, his family members demanded a CBI probe.
