Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram
Custodial death: Crime Branch files charge-sheet
Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch has held three police constables responsible for the custodial death of a 27-year-old man at the Fort police station in September last year.
In a charge-sheet filed at the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court-II here on Monday, the agency has charged police constables Jithakumar, S. Sreekumar and Soman with murder, torture and illegal detention in connection with the custodial death of P. Udayakumar.
Udayakumar, a resident of Manacaud, had been taken into custody on September 27 after he was found with one Suresh Kumar in "suspicious circumstances." He was allegedly tortured in custody by policemen who wanted to know the source of Rs.4,020, which was found on his person.
The Crime Branch later found out that Udayakumar's mother, Prabhavathi Amma, had given him the money for buying clothes and provisions.
The agency has also recommended departmental action against nine police officials, including the then Fort Circle Inspector E.K. Sabu, Sub-Inspector T. Ajith Kumar and Crime Sub-Inspector Raveendran Nair.
Fifty persons, including 20 policemen, have been listed as prosecution witness in the case.
Undertrial's death: police awaiting detailed report
The medico-legal experts, who conducted the post-mortem examination of the body of the undertrial prisoner, Satyan, have told the police that the 42-year-old man could have died of "extreme alcohol withdrawal."
Circle Inspector, Fort, T.R. Rajamohan said the forensic doctors had found Satyan's brain to have been swollen and his liver and kidneys in a bad condition. The doctors also found a superficial two-day-old wound on his leg.
No other contusions or abrasions were noticed on the body. Mr. Rajamohan said the police were awaiting the detailed post-mortem examination report. The internal organs have been sent for chemical examination.
The Opposition had staged a walkout in the Legislative Assembly on Monday accusing the police of having tortured Satyan in custody.
The Aryanad police had arrested Satyan on February 4 on the charge of possessing five litres of arrack.
He was produced before the judicial first class magistrate the same day evening and remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.
On February 5, Satyan was admitted to Medical College Hospital (MCH) after he reported sick to the Sub-Jail authorities. He died at the prisoner's ward of the MCH on February 9.
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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