Sathankulam custodial deaths: 2 CBI officers probing case test positive for coronavirus

The accused were produced before the court on Wednesday, a day earlier than the stipulated time, and have been remanded to custody till August 5.
The father and son allegedly died due to custodial torture in Sathankulam police station
The father and son allegedly died due to custodial torture in Sathankulam police station
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Two Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers investigating the Sathankulam custodial death case have tested positive for coronavirus.  As a result, the three accused were produced before the magistrate who remanded them to custody till August 5.

The two officers, out of the eight-member team investigating the Sathankulam custodial death case, showed symptoms of the novel coronavirus. Following this, the two CBI officers, a 47-year-old constable and a 29-year-old sub inspector, gave their swabs for testing at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. The test result came back positive and the CBI personnel have been taken to a quarantine facility, a report said.

The accused were produced before the court on Wednesday, a day earlier than the stipulated time, since the officers tested positive for coronavirus. The CBI earlier had custody of three police personnel, Veil Muthu, Chelladurai and Samidurai, accused in the Sathankulam custodial death case, till July 23.

The judicial magistrate Hemananda Kumar taking up the case remanded them to custody in Madurai till August 5, said a report.

The five police personnel, who were lodged at Perurani district jail in Thoothukudi, were shifted to Madurai central jail on July 4.

The Tamil Nadu government also transferred the Sathankulam custodial death case to CBI-CID. The CB-CID Inspector General Shankar taking up the case told the reporters that they would take all the five police personnel into custody for interrogation.

The five police personnel of the Sathankulam police station are accused of torturing the father-son duo of Jayaraj and Bennix to death during custody. The father Jayaraj and son Bennix were taken into custody by the police on June 19 for allegedly keeping the shop open without following the lockdown norms. However, CCTV footage recovered from the shop showed that the police picked up Jayaraj even before 8 pm.

On June 20, the duo was transferred to Kovilpatti sub jail. However, the health condition of Jayaraj and Bennix deteriorated following which they were transferred to Kovilpatti Government Hospital. Bennix complained of chest pain and died on June 22 while Jayaraj succumbed within a few hours on June 23 in Kovilpatti Government Hospital.

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