The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Wednesday, August 20, filed chargesheet before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Madurai, in the custodial murder case of Ajith Kumar in Sivaganga. 29 year old Ajith Kumar was a temple guard, and was detained by police on June 28, alleging that a gold necklace had gone missing from a car in the temple premises. He later died on June 29 after sustaining severe injuries.
According to a The Hindu report, apart from the five police personnel Prabhu, Kannan, Sankara Manikandan, Raja, and Anand who had been arrested, Ramachandran, the police driver, had also been included as an accused in the case.
The CBI had also said that further investigation would be based on forensic reports by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory from New Delhi and Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, additional advocate general M Ajmal Khan, appearing for the State, informed the court that the state had complied with its direction to provide an additional compensation of Rs 25 lakh to Ajith Kumar’s family and has provided protection to five witnesses under the witness protection scheme.
However, Henri Tiphane, who appeared for the petitioner, said that CCTV cameras were installed for the safety of witnesses, but alarms, fencing or security doors have not yet been provided. Taking note of this, the court has directed the state to comply within a week.
The court directed the CBI to file a status report within a month, and posted the case for hearing after four weeks.
The CBI also informed the Madras High Court that the chargesheet has been filed. The Madurai bench of Madras High Court had, on July 23, directed the CBI to complete the probe by August 20. A Division Bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and G Arul Murugan were hearing a batch of public interest litigations (PIL).