The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against nine police personnel in the Sathankulam custodial death case. The case pertains to the death of two traders, Jeyaraj and Beniks, on 23 June and 22 June respectively, due to the custodial torture inflicted by the Santhakulam police.
In a release, the CBI said that the nine former police personnel of Sathankulam police station named in the chargesheet include inspector K Balakrishnan, two sub inspectors P Raghuganesh and S Murugan , two head constables A Samadurai and M Muthuraja and other constables S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis and S Vellumuthu. One of the then sub inspectors of the Sathankulam police station who was named in the crime, died due to novel coronavirus infection during the investigation.
The CBI said, “Our investigation revealed that the father-son duo was arrested in the evening of June 19 and was allegedly tortured at the Sathankulam police station by the accused in the evening as well as in the intervening night, consequent to which both of them succumbed to the injuries and died in the intervening night of 22 June and 23 June.”
The CBI after the investigation has filed a chargesheet in the two cases and is investigating further to look into the role of other persons, the release said.
The father Jeyaraj was picked up by the Sathankulam police station for reportedly keeping the shop open for a few minutes after the lockdown norms. The son Beniks followed the police and reached the station. The police also took Beniks into custody and allegedly tortured the duo. The father-son were also taken to Kovilapatti for lodging them in jail. However, the duo complained of chest pain and both of them were rushed to the Kovilpatti Government Hospital. Beniks died on 22 June while Jeyaraj died a few hours later on 23 June.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court took suo motu cognisance of the case for hearing. Following this, the Tamil Nadu government initially ordered a CB-CID probe and later sought a CBI probe.
The CBI on the request of the Tamil Nadu government, registered two cases on 7 July based on the allegations that Jeyaraj and Beniks died due to custodial torture.
(The article was originally published in The News Minute and has been reposted with permission.)
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