The Tamil Nadu police have been accused of attempting to offer Rs 2 lakh to the family of Rajasekar, a 33-year-old man who died in police custody in Chennai on June 12. Speaking to TNM, the family alleged that the negotiation was carried out through their advocate. However, the family refused the offer made by the police and instead approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
Manikandan, Rajasekar’s brother, said that the advocate had told the family that the amount was offered to perform Rajasekar’s last rites. Manikandan alleged that the advocate suggested the family take the Rs 2 lakh being offered. However, disagreeing to any kind of deal, the family went to the SHRC, which then ordered the handover of the postmortem report and visuals of the autopsy to the family.
Rajasekar had around 30 cases against him and was categorised as a ‘B category’ history-sheeter by the Sholavaram police. On Sunday, he was picked up by Kodungaiyur police. He was questioned in connection with a jewellery theft case, when he reportedly collapsed during the questioning. Though he was rushed to the Government Stanley Hospital, he was declared brought dead.
This is not the first time that the Chennai police have been accused of offering money to families. Earlier in April, G5 Secratariat Police in Chennai offered Rs 1 lakh to the family members of Vignesh, who was also a victim of custodial death. Vignesh’s family was paid the money through his employer, who said he got the money from the police.
The police have been saying that Rajasekar collapsed due to health issues - a claim that his family has denied. Rajasekar’s mother Usha Rani said that they were not informed about his death by the police, but they came to know of it through television channels. She also sought the Chief Minister's intervention and asked him to take action against the police.
While the SHRC has asked the Chennai Police Commissioner to submit a report within four weeks, five policemen - Inspector George Miller Ponraj, Sub Inspector Kanniyappan, head constables Jayasekhar and Manivannan, and Grade I police constable Sathiyamoorthy - have been suspended and the MKB Nagar police have registered a case under section 176(1)(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which deals with custodial death.