Sathankulam deaths: Murder case on four policemen, SI arrested

Sathankulam deaths: Murder case on four policemen, SI arrested

Ananth.MK@timesgroup.com

Tuticorin: 2.7.2020

The CB-CID wing of the Tamil Nadu police which has taken over the investigation of the alleged custodial torture and death of a father-son duo, P Jeyaraj and J Beniks, booked two suspended SIs and two constables of Sathankulam police station under Section 302 of the IPC for murders and arrested one of the SIs, Raghu Ganesh, on Wednesday. He was remanded in judicial custody late in the evening.

CB-CID IG K Shankar, who is supervising the investigation, told TOI that 12 special teams had been formed under the leadership of CB-CID SP C Vijayakumar to investigate the case and carryout searches and arrest the remaining three accused — SI Balakrishnan and constables Murugan and Muthuraj. “As of now, we have registered murder cases against four people. Whether more people are involved or not would be known only with the progress of the investigation,” Shankar said. Kovilpatti police had initially registered the cases as suspicious deaths.

Though the state government had transferred the case to CBI, it was subsequently handed over to CB-CID on Tuesday as an interim measure following the intervention of the Madurai bench of the Madras high court to avoid delay in proceeding with the investigation and prevent tampering of evidence by Sathankulam local police. The conduct of the policemen was intimidating and non-cooperative when Kovilpatti judicial magistrate M S Bharathidasan carried out an inquest on Sunday.

CB-CID team visits Beniks’ mobile shop

Relatives and friends of victims reacted to the arrest saying their fight for justice was yielding results.

“God has given us justice. We see judicial magistrate M S Bharathidhasan, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court which took suo motu cognisance of the case and everyone who supported us as messengers of God. All of them came forward to help us,” said P Pon Sekar, of one of the sons-in-law of Jeyaraj.

The CB-CID team visited Beniks’ mobile shop and made inquiries about the manner in which the two were arrested by Sathankulam police on June 19. The team then split into two. While one team visited the house of the deceased, the other team conducted inquiry at Sathankulam police station. Another team led by DSP Saravanakumar visited Kovilpatti sub jail, where the duo was lodged before their death. In the evening, Beniks’ friends appeared before the CB CID team and handed over pictures and video footages of the arrest. They also gave their statements as eye witnesses.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the victims handed over vital evidences pertaining to the torture of Jeyaraj and Beniks to judicial magistrate M S Bharathidhasan on Tuesday evening. The evidences include blood stained shirt of Beniks, blood-stained car seat cover and bedsheet spread on the seat of the car in which Jeyaraj and Beniks were taken to Kovilpatti sub jail from Sathankulam on June 20 afternoon.

The magistrate and forensic experts observed the car and took the evidences with them. The magistrate then visited Sathankulam hospital and checked the CCTV footage and conducted inquiry with the staff there.

On Wednesday government doctor Vennila who had treated the father and son at Sathankulam hospital on June 20 for close to three hours, before they were produced in front of Sathankulam magistrate for remand, appeared before the magistrate conducting inquest at Tiruchendur. She explained the condition in which the victims were brought to the hospital and the treatment provided to them.

On Wednesday, government doctor Vennila who had treated the father and son at Sathankulam hospital on June 20 appeared before the magistrate conducting inquest at Tiruchendur