The CBCID, the special wing of Criminal Investigation Department, arrested three more police personnel in connection with the Sathankulam custodial deaths case. Inspector Sridhar, Sub Inspector Bala Krishnan and head constable Murugan were arrested on Thursday morning. Constable Muthuraj, meanwhile, has been held by the police but his name has not been added to the first information report (FIR) yet.
The CBCID, which took over the case on July 1 (Wednesday), had already arrested Sub-Inspector Raghuganesh on Wednesday night.
Confirming the arrest to TNM, a senior police officer said, “Head Constable Murugan, Sub Inspector Bala Krishnan and Inspector Sridhar were arrested after preliminary investigation. All important police personnel involved in the incident have been arrested. We are grateful to the government, the High Court and the head of the police force for the faith reposed on us. The investigation will continue.”
Sub Inspector Raghuganesh was booked under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code (Punishment for murder). He will be remanded under judicial custody till July 16. He was questioned for six hours on Wednesday before being remanded. Following this, the other policemen, alleged to be associated in the Sathankulam custodial deaths, were ‘unavailable’ for questioning, according to the district Superintendent of Police.
However, the special teams traced down the accused in the case in the wee hours of Thursday, after which, inspector Sridhar, SI Bala Krishnan, head constable Murugan and constable Muthuraj were arrested on Thursday.
The police personnel were kept in the waitlist but were suspended following a widespread protest.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday suo motu heard the case and told the CBCID to immediately start the investigation in the case. The order for a CBCID probe was given based on the autopsy report of the victims, Jayaraj and Bennix, the statement of a woman constable recorded by the Magistrate and the report submitted by the Kovilpatti judicial magistrate.
The autopsy report of the father and son revealed that the two men suffered grievous injuries. The woman constable, an eyewitness in the case, also revealed that she saw bloodstains on the table and the lathis. She also confirmed that the father and son were tortured throughout the night.
Before arresting the police personnel, the CBCID police had questioned the family members of Jayaraj and Bennix, the woman constable who revealed about the torture to the Magistrate and the doctor who gave a fitness certificate to the father and son.