MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday sought CBI's response on a bail petition moved by former police inspector S Sridhar, who is one of the key accused in Sathankulam custodial death case.
Sridhar, who was working as the station house officer of Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi, was arrested in July 2020 for the brutal assault of two traders- P Jeyaraj and his son Beniks-- in police custody. Nine other policemen from the station were also arrested in the case but one of them died due to Covid-19, a month later. While the trial is underway, Sridhar has approached the high court seeking bail.
Sridhar stated that he has been incarcerated for nearly three years and this is the fourth such petition being filed by him before the HC. So far, 47 witnesses, including two star witnesses, have been examined out of 132 total witnesses in the case, he pointed out. "This itself has taken almost three years to complete and examining the rest of the witnesses may take at least five more years," he added. Citing a judgment passed by the Supreme Court while granting bail to a man in 2021, Sridhar claimed that the said judgment would also apply to his case and sought bail.
Justice G Ilangovan, who heard the plea, directed the CBI to file a counter affidavit and adjourned the case to April 10.