MADURAI: The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Madurai on Tuesday granted the CBI two-day custody of the five policemen arrested for the alleged custodial torture and death of B Ajithkumar -- a security guard at Madapuram Badrakali Amman temple in Sivaganga.
On Monday, the CBI filed a petition before the court, seeking two-day custody of the policemen -- S Raja, A Anand, S Sankaramanikandan, G Prabhu, and G Kannan -- who had been remanded in judicial custody at the Madurai Central Prison. Based on the same, CJM K Selvapandi directed the prison superintendent to produce the five accused before him on Tuesday.
While hearing the petition on Tuesday, the CJM, in the presence of the five accused, allowed the CBI's plea and granted it custody of the accused from August 5 afternoon till the evening of August 6. The accused should be produced before the court around 5.30 pm on August 6.
The CJM clarified that the custody has been granted only for interrogation and that no other activity, such as the recovery of material objects, should be carried out by the agency during the two days.
It could be noted that the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, in a public interest litigation petition filed in connection with the case, had directed the CBI to file the chargesheet in the case by August 20.