CBI will investigate custodial deaths of man and son in TN

SALEM/TUTICORIN: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to transfer the probe into the death of a father-son duo, victims of alleged police torture in Tuticorin district, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Sunday. The inspector of Sathankulam police station, where the duo was allegedly thrashed and tortured, has been suspended and replaced, the police.

The state’s main opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, said the Chief Minister has ordered the CBI probe due to “intense pressure” from people and political parties, besides the media.

The government’s decision will be informed to the Madras High Court, which is seized of the matter, and its approval will be secured before transferring the case to the central agency, Palaniswami told reporters in Salem. “The government has decided that CBI will probe the case,” Palaniswami said. He recalled the court had by itself taken cognizance of the matter.

However, the family of the victims said they will wait for the next hearing in the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday, when reporters sought their response to the chief minister’s announcement on handing over the probe to CBI.

DMK president MK Stalin said if the government has the determination to provide justice in this matter, those allegedly involved in the incident would not be “roaming free” even now. “The chief minister has transferred the probe to CBI due to intense pressure from the people, political parties and the media,” he said in a tweet.