TN custody deaths: Six charged with murder, 1 arrested
THOOTHUKUDI: Tamil Nadu’s criminal investigation department on Wednesday arrested a sub-inspector and booked six people for the murder of father-son duo P Jayaraj and J Bennicks, who were allegedly tortured and beaten to death at the Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi district.
The first information reports (FIRs) filed in the case were altered to include murder charges under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code against two sub-inspectors, Raghu Ganesh and Balakrishnan, among others.
Last week, the Thoothukudi police had suspended inspector Sridhar and sub-inspectors Ganesh and Balakrishnan.
On Tuesday, the Madras high court directed CB-CID deputy superintendent of police Anil Kumar to probe the case until the CBI took over the case, observing that there were chances of evidence tampering.
THOOTHUKUDI: Tamil Nadu’s criminal investigation department arrested on Wednesday a police sub-inspector and booked six people on murder charges in connection with the death of a father-son duo, allegedly thrashed at the Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi district.
The First Information Reports filed in the case were altered to include murder charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code against two sub-inspectors, Raghu Ganesh and Balakrishnan, among others.
On Tuesday, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court directed CB-CID deputy superintendent of police Anil Kumar to probe the case until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case. Observing that there were chances of evidence tampering, the court said that the Sathankulam police “are taking advantage of the fact that the investigation of the case is in limbo and are attempting to cause disappearance of evidence.”
Last week, the Thoothukudi police had suspended Inspector Sridhar, P Raghu Ganesh and Balakrishnan in connection to the deaths of P Jayaraj, 59, and J Bennicks, 31, who were allegedly tortured and beaten by the police on June 19.
Bennicks and Jayaraj died on June 22 and June 23 after undergoing hours of alleged torture at the Sathankulam police station on June 19.