COIMBATORE: A prisoner at the Coimbatore Central Prison submitted a petition to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Coimbatore, N Muralidharan, alleging that prison authorities were routinely rounding up convicts, who were involved in protests at the jail, after a 54-year-old man had died under suspicious circumstances on June 25, 2015. A post-mortem report had later clarified that the man had died from natural causes.
The petitioner, A Chittybabu Ibrahim, a robbery accused, was produced before the judge on Monday. He told the judge that the prison authorities were assaulting prisoners, who were organizing resistance against the excesses of prison officials and had involved in protests.
The judge asked the petitioner to give a complaint in writing, which he said would forward to the Judicial Magistrate III.
The petitioner alleged that prison authorities had threatened to murder him and had told him that the physical abuse he was being subjected to was to instil fear in other convicts. Chittybabu was represented by advocates Suleiman and Dharmaraj.