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Five police personnel from the Thiruppuvanam police station in Sivaganga district have been arrested in connection with the custodial death of Ajith Kumar, following a post-mortem report that revealed external injury marks and grievous internal injuries. The arrested police personnel have been booked under Section 196(2)(a) (custodial death) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Act.
This development took place hours before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court was scheduled to hear multiple petitions filed seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into this brutal case of custodial violence.
In a press statement issued on Monday, June 30, the Tamil Nadu police said, “In this case, based on the post-mortem report, appropriate legal sections have been altered, and five police personnel involved in the incident have been arrested.” The case has been forwarded for judicial inquiry. The arrested officers are Raja (36), Anand (38), Sankaramanikandan (36), Praphu Ganesan (42), and Kannan (47).
TNM had earlier reported that at least 15 external injury marks and grievous internal injuries were found on Ajith Kumar’s body during the post-mortem conducted at Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital.
Sources in Tamil Nadu police said that the decision to arrest the police personnel involved in the custodial death of Ajith Kumar was taken by senior police officers after reviewing the evidence gathered in this case and preliminary autopsy report which confirmed torture.
A source told TNM that Ajith Kumar’s body had injury marks and his internal injuries were serious in nature. “There was a major injury on his head, ribs and his throat area,” the source added.
Ajith Kumar, a resident of Madapuram village in Sivaganga district, who worked as a security guard at the famous Badrakaliamman Temple in Thiruppuvanam, was taken in for questioning in connection with a theft case. He was initially detained on June 27, following a complaint filed by two women, Sivakami and her daughter Nikita, who alleged that ten sovereigns of gold jewellery had gone missing from their car.
According to the police, the complainants had asked Ajith to park the vehicle. However, as he did not know how to drive, he sought help from others to park the car and later returned the keys to Nikita.
Ajith was first taken to the Thiruppuvanam police station, where he and four other temple staff members were questioned. They were later released.
However, later that night, the same five individuals were detained again by a six-member special team for further interrogation. At around 4 am on June 28, the team also picked up Ajith’s younger brother, Naveen.
Eyewitness statements recorded by Judicial Sub-Magistrate Venkatesh Prasad confirmed that Ajith Kumar was severely assaulted by members of the ‘special police team’ in the presence of his brother, Naveen Kumar, who saw Ajith collapse and die later.
According to the initial FIR, Ajith allegedly tried to escape from the police twice. “Once when he tried to escape and fell down he was caught by the police. The second time the head Constable was informed by another police personnel that when Ajith tried to escape from police custody, he fell down and he suffered seizures and was taken to hospital,” read the FIR.
The FIR also mentions that the special team started investigating the case based on the orders of Manamadurai DSP, and they took custody of Ajith from Thiruppuvanam inspector.
The FIR was registered based on a complaint lodged by head constable Kannan, who said that from time to time the special team kept DSP Manamadurai and Thiruppuvanam inspector informed about the progress of the investigation.
Announcing the arrest of the five police personnel, the Tamil Nadu government said the police department has acted “fairly, transparently, and impartially,” the press release stated.