Varappuzha custodial death: Sreejith's kin identify accused

All the four accused in the case including the Varappuzha sub-Inspector GS Deepak have been lodged in the same prison under judicial custody.

Image used for representational purpose.

KOCHI: The relatives of S R Sreejith, the victim in the Varappuzha custodial death case on Tuesday identified the three civil police officers who had taken into custody the deceased youth. Officers said Akhila, wife of the deceased Sreejith, identified the accused - Jithin Raj, Sumesh and Santosh Kumar-, during an identification parade held at the Kakkanad District jail. The police officers, who were members of the disbanded Rural Tiger Force (RTF), were paraded together with 14 other persons.

Besides Akhila, Sreejith’s brother Sajith, his mother Shyamala and Ajith, a neighbour, also identified the accused. The parade, held in the presence of the Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate Reno Francis Xavier, lasted for over one hour.

All the four accused in the case including the Varappuzha sub-Inspector GS Deepak have been lodged in the same prison under judicial custody.

The identification parade of the accused was held about five days after a video clipping was out in the public domain through the social media. The accused police officers said that they had been made scapegoats and requested intervention by the Chief Minister and the State Police Chief through the video which was leaked just hours before the arrest of the officers.

Officers said the medical board constituted to ascertain the actual cause of his death is expected to hand over its final report soon. The post-mortem report cited that Sreejith’s death was due to blunt trauma sustained to the abdomen and its related complications.

The special investigation team probing the cases over the attack on the residence of Vasudevan and his subsequent suicide is yet to arrest the remaining accused in the case. The first, second, third and sixth accused in the case, identified as Vipin, Vinju, Thulasidas and Ajith have been absconding since April 6.

Co-accused alleges brutal torture

Putting the police in another fix, the co-accused, who were released on bail, in the case related to the attack of the house of deceased C M Vasudevan, in Varapuzha told media persons that they had been subjected to brutal assault inside the lock-up of the Varapuzha police station by the SI G S Deepak for several hours.

"Though Sreejith cried inside the lockup following the severe abdominal pain the police officers were reluctant to take him to a hospital. Sreejith was lying on the floor due to the uneasiness. The RTF personnel began manhandling at the time of picking Sreejith from his residence. SI beat him up when brought him to the station", said they said.

Sreejith's brother Sajith alleged that RTF manhandled them inside the police vehicle while being brought to Varapuzha police station. "Besides SI Deepak other police officers present at the station also beaten up Sreejith. The SI had kicked him many times", he added.

Earlier, the investigation team had found that at least seven of the nine arrested by the Varappuzha police were not present at the location during the attack againstVasudevan’s house. Following this, the court granted bail to all the nine persons.