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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday, December 12, filed a supplementary chargesheet naming four more police personnel as accused in the custodial death of Ajith Kumar. The chargesheet was filed with the Fifth Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai.
The names of the fresh accused include the then Manamadurai Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) N Shanmugasundaram, the then Thiruppuvanam Inspector Ramesh Kumar, the then Sub-Inspector Sivakumar, and the then Head Constable Ilayaraja.
With this, the total number of police personnel accused in the case has increased to 10.
Ajith Kumar, a security guard working at the Madapuram Badrakaliamman Temple in Sivaganga’s Thirupuvanam, was arrested on June 27 in connection with a jewellery theft case and was taken to a cowshed, where he was brutally assaulted by the police. He died the following day. A video that later surfaced online showed him being repeatedly beaten with a stick, triggering widespread public outrage.
The post-mortem report revealed 44 injuries on Ajith’s body, including deep muscle contusions, haemorrhages in internal organs, and signs of prolonged blunt force trauma– all of which established death due to torture.
The CBI had earlier filed its first chargesheet on August 20, naming six police personnel — Prabhu, Kannan, Sankaran Manikandan, Raja, Anand, and Ramachandran, the driver of the police vehicle who transported Ajith Kumar.
Further investigation was kept pending as the agency awaited reports from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in New Delhi and Hyderabad to determine the involvement of additional persons in the case.
Reacting to the development, People’s Watch Executive Director Henri Tiphagne, who represents Ajith Kumar’s family through legal aid, welcomed the inclusion of the DSP and other officers as accused. He also urged the CBI to investigate whose instructions the DSP was acting on.
“The investigation should identify those who issued directions from Chennai and include them as accused as well,” he said. He further called for a probe into the jewellery theft case and sought adequate protection for Ajith Kumar’s family and witnesses.
The case has been posted for hearing on December 19.