CHENNAI: Ten years after the killing of history-sheeter P Sundaramurthy by the police in an encounter in Virudhunagar, the State Human Rights Commission recommended to the Tamil Nadu government to provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to his wife and also termed the encounter as fake.
The commission has also recommended disciplinary action against the then inspector of police, Sivakasi, and the three police constables concerned.
Vasanthi, wife of Sundaramurthy, has moved the commission seeking compensation for the death of her husband and for action against the policemen.
She said a non-bailable warrant had been issued against her husband for not appearing at the court and the Sivakasi town police picked him on July 28, 2009. She alleged that the policemen had demanded Rs 5-lakh bribe to release her husband, but she refused. However, her husband was found to be killed the next day.
Vasanthi said if her husband had attempted to flee, the bullet injuries should have been found at the back of his body.
Denying the allegations, the then inspector of the Sivakasi police station Radhakrishnan and three other police constables - Kamaraj, Siva and Karunakaran - submitted that Sundaramurthy attempted to throw country bombs while he was being secured and they finally managed to overpower him.
After Sundaramurthy was given a medical check-up, the accused pushed the two constables and tried to run away with one of the constables Kamaraj opening fire thrice on him.
The report submitted after a DRO enquiry also said the police had shot in self-defence, the cops said.
Considering the oral and documentary evidence of both parties, D Jayachandran, member of the SHRC, observed that the police did not substantiate their claims with enough evidence and the entire circumstances pointed to the police having planned the whole encounter in advance.
Hence, the member recommended to the Tamil Nadu government to award a compensate of Rs 10 lakh to Vasanthi and also initiate disciplinary action against the cops by suspending them.