MADURAI: Amid public outrage over the custodial death of temple security guard B Ajithkumar (27) at Thirupuvanam in Sivaganga district in which five policemen have been arrested for murder, CCTV footage of a man being thrashed by policemen at Devadanapatti police station in Theni district has sparked concerns regarding police highhandedness across the state.
After the video of C Ramesh (34), an auto driver of Devadanapatti, being thrashed by policemen in a nuisance case went viral, the Theni district police ordered an inquiry and transferred five policemen, including inspector K Abdulla, to the Armed Reserve (AR) police unit on Wednesday.
According to sources, the Devadanapatti policemen thrashed Ramesh on January 14 after he was brought to the police station for creating public nuisance near Arisikadai bus stop in Devadanapatti town.
Based on a complaint from the local residents, a team picked up Ramesh and brought him to the station.
Used force to control drunk Ramesh: Cops
After caning him, a case was registered under Section 296 of BNS for causing public disturbance, and he was released on station bail, sources said.
The issue came out after a lawyer, who had visited the Devadanapatti police station on January 14 related to another case, filed an RTI request with the district police seeking the CCTV footage of the station to establish his presence at the spot on January 14.
The footage was given to the lawyer after a month. When the lawyer checked the footage, it contained shocking visuals of Ramesh being thrashed inside the station. On July 2, he shared the CCTV on social media, and the video went viral a few days later after the Thirupuvanam custodial death.
Reacting to the controversy, the embattled Theni district police on Wednesday issued an official press release denying custodial torture and harassment, and claimed that the policemen were constrained to use force to control Ramesh as he was in an inebriated state at the time of his arrest. An inquiry under an Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) has been ordered and based on his report, action will be taken, the release said.
Theni District Superintendent of Police R Shiva Prasad has also ordered the transfer of inspector Abdulla, special SI Shiva Sambu, head constable S Pandian, and constables Marichamy and Valirajan to AR unit, pending inquiry, the release added. Despite repeated attempts by TNIE, the SP could not be reached for his comments.
Govt job for victim’s brother
As part of rehabilitation measure, TN government on Wednesday offered B Naveenkumar, brother of custodial death victim Ajithkumar, job of senior factory assistant at state-run dairy Aavin plant in Karaikudi. A housing plot of three cents has also been allotted to the family