Sathankulam station inspector Sridhar, who was arrested in July 2020 in connection with the Sathankulam custodial deaths case, has written to a special court in Madurai stating that his life was in danger and there is a conspiracy hatched to murder him similar to the way “Jayaraj was beaten to death”. He sought the court to make arrangements to take him for inquiry in a separate vehicle with police escort.
The CBI, which is investigating the case, has named nine persons as accused – former Inspector S Sridhar; Sub Inspectors K Balakrishnan, P Raghuganesh; Head Constables S Murugan, A Samadurai; and Constables M Muthuraja, S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis and S Veilumuthu.
Sridhar, in his letter to the first additional district and sessions court in Madurai written on March 27, has said that the other accused slapped a false case on Jayaraj and Bennix, and they were beaten to death by them at the Sathankulam police station. “As I questioned them why they beat to the extent of causing their death, we had a misunderstanding. Since then A2 to A9 and myself are jailed separately since July 2, 2020.” Sridar also accuses them of harassing him directly and indirectly, and also during their travels to and from the court.
“Considering that I might tell the truth to the court, they are hatching a conspiracy to kill me like they killed Jayaraj. They are also vengeful with me for preventing them from escaping. Despite asking for bail or asking to shift me to Coimbatore jail or another block in Madurai jail, I did not get any relief,” he states in the letter.
He further alleges that he was abused by four other accused, at 6.30 am on March 26, 2022. He also says that they tried to beat him, and claims that the visuals are recorded on CCTV. “They always get together and abuse me during jail audit, travelling to and fro from court in the escort van and while having lunch with them at the court premises,” he said, and sought the court to give him a “separate police escort with vehicle”.
He also pointed out that the accused in the Kachanatham murder case are being escorted separately due to a similar issue.
On June 19, Jayaraj was picked up from his shop in Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district by the police, allegedly for violating the COVID-19 curfew. Seeing this, his son Bennix went to the station. The police took Bennix also into custody and allegedly tortured the two traders for keeping the shop open after 8 pm against lockdown norms. However, CCTV footage from a nearby shop showed that the Sathankulam police picked up Jayaraj a few minutes before 8 pm. The father-son duo were then taken to Kovilpatti to be lodged in a jail. Jayaraj and Bennix complained of chest pain and were taken to Kovilpatti Government Hospital. Bennix died on June 22 and Jayaraj died a few hours later on June 23. The Madras High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of this case and instructed the police to inform the public that the court is monitoring the case.
The custodial deaths case of Jeyaraj and Bennix was initially handled by the CB-CID on the orders of the High Court and around ten policemen were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 302 for murder, and arrested by the CB-CID. The CBI then took over the probe and are investigating the case.