The Tamil Nadu Police’s slogan is ‘Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban’, which translates to the police department is your friend. But for Rajesh and his family, the ordeal they underwent in 2019 at the hands of ten policemen was nothing short of a nightmare. According to this Chennai based businessman, he, his fiancee, mother, and brother were kidnapped and held captive at a farmhouse in Chennai for eight days by ten policemen including an Assistant Commissioner. They were allegedly assaulted until Rajesh transferred all his properties worth crores in the name of a partner with whom he had a fallout.
On the direction of Tamil Nadu police headquarters, the CB-CID branch on Sunday registered cases against ten policemen for kidnapping and assaulting Rajesh and his family in 2019. The victim had written to the higher ups in the police department in December 2020, this for the second time as his complaint in November 2019 went unnoticed. Shivakumar, former Assistant Commissioner of Tirumangalam, Inspectors Saravanan and Pandiaraj have been named in the FIR.
Rajesh, an animation technology graduate befriended another businessman who was running a tech firm in Chennai. With Rs 15 lakh that Rajesh’s mother who was a government employee was able to get him as a loan; Rajesh paid 10 lakhs to this man and with the remaining Rs 5 lakh started his own firm VRN Infosys in Chennai and staffed 25 people.
Rajesh and his partner had several business transactions in the following years and they borrowed from each other. According to Rajesh, things soured in 2017 as he took a loan of Rs 2 crore from his friend and when he could not pay back the debt, he handed over one of his firms to the man.
Although Rajesh soon believed that he cleared his debt, the police came knocking on his door almost after a year in May 2019.
Writing about his ordeal, Rajesh said in the complaint, “Several times my elderly mother and I were taken to Tirumangalam police station and assaulted by officers. The officers demanded that I write all my property on one Shiva’s name, who is a friend of my partner.”
“If you fail to transfer your property on Shiva’s name, there is no guarantee for you and your mother’s life,”the Tirumangalam inspector said, alleged Rajesh
His complaint, that TNM accessed, further alleged that Rajesh transferred his Ayapakkam property on Shiva’s name in June 2019.
Following this, Rajesh and his fiancée moved to Coimbatore in September 2019 to restart their lives. However, in the complaint, Rajesh alleges that Tirumangalam police kidnapped him and his fiancée from Coimbatore on 30 September 2019 and brought them to Chennai.
The letter stated, “On 3 October, 2019 my mother and I along with my fiancée and his brother were held captive at a farm house in Sengundram. There I was brutally attacked by police personnel.”
“One of the police men said that Shiva’s henchmen will rape my fiancée, kill my mother and charge me on ganja cases if I do not obey and transfer the property, "said Rajesh in the letter.
As per the letter, Rajesh and family were held captive for eight days. Not knowing what to do, Rajesh decided to transfer his property as per the police direction. Rajesh along with personnel who accompanied him to Ambattur and Thiruvallur sub registrar offices on October 5 and 6 of 2019 had allegedly transferred all his property on one Tharun Krishnaprasad.
In the letter, Rajesh further alleges that although his mother was let go by the personnel, he and his fiancée and brother-in-law were held for three more days and officers made him sign on many documents.
Rajesh alleges he was let go only after all his properties were transferred. Left without any savings or property to fall back on, he was unable to tend to his mother’s medical expenses in October 2019, he alleged.
Rajesh had written a letter to higher police officials in November 2019, but no action was taken, added the letter.
The Tamil Nadu state police headquarters confirmed that the case has been transferred to the CB-CID of police and that the investigation is ongoing with the department registering a case against ten police officers including an Assistant Commissioner, inspector and sub inspector for allegedly threatening and forcibly detaining Rajesh and his family.
(Inputs from IANS)