MADURAI: The Madurai District Court on Monday convicted nine policemen in connection with the custodial deaths of two traders, P Jeyaraj and his son Beniks, at the Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi in June 2020.
The First Additional District and Sessions Judge, G Muthukumaran, who delivered the verdict, posted the matter to March 30 for pronouncement of the quantum of punishment.
The nine convicted policemen are then Inspector S Sridhar; then Sub-Inspectors P Ragu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan; then Special Sub-Inspector Pauldurai; then Head Constables S Murugan and A Samidurai; and Constables M Muthuraja, S Veil Muthu, S Chelladurai, and X Thomas Francis.
On June 19, 2020, while Jeyaraj was at his son’s mobile showroom, the accused police personnel took him to the police station for allegedly keeping the shop open beyond the COVID-19 curfew hours. When Beniks went to the station and requested his father’s release, the policemen allegedly abused Jeyaraj in his presence, leading to a quarrel.
Subsequently, the father and son were brutally tortured at the station throughout the night and were later remanded to judicial custody by the Sathankulam Judicial Magistrate and lodged in Kovilpatti Sub-Jail the next day, without being provided proper medical treatment. Their health deteriorated soon after; Beniks died at the Government Kovilpatti Hospital on June 22, 2020, and Jeyaraj succumbed a day later. Two FIRs were registered at the Kovilpatti East Police Station in connection with their deaths.
Following Jeyaraj’s death, his wife Selvarani approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking videography of the postmortem examination. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter on June 24, 2020, a bench comprising Justices P. N. Prakash (since retired) and B. Pugalendhi called for a report from the then Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police and stated that the court would closely monitor the investigation.
On June 30, 2020, the Judicial Magistrate I of Kovilpatti, who had inspected the station as part of his judicial inquiry, submitted a report to the High Court expressing apprehension about possible tampering of evidence and lack of cooperation from police personnel, particularly Maharajan, who allegedly made disparaging remarks against him. He also alleged that the CCTV footage from the station had been deliberately erased. The High Court then directed the Thoothukudi Collector to depute revenue officials to preserve evidence at the Sathankulam police station. It also initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Maharajan and two other police officers, which were closed two years later after they tendered unconditional apologies.
As the State indicated its willingness to transfer the probe to the CBI, the High Court initially transferred the investigation to the CB-CID until the CBI took over. The then CB-CID DSP of Tirunelveli registered two FIRs and arrested ten policemen in connection with the deaths.
The State Government formally handed over the case to the CBI, which took over the investigation on July 7, 2020. One of the accused, Special Sub-Inspector Pauldurai, died due to COVID-19 in August 2020. The CBI filed a chargesheet against the remaining nine policemen on September 25, 2020, and the trial commenced before the First Additional District and Sessions Court, Madurai, on March 10, 2021. A supplementary chargesheet was filed in August 2022.
Both chargesheets revealed that the deceased had not kept their shop open beyond permissible hours and had been falsely booked. A woman head constable who witnessed the incident stated that, apart from being tortured throughout the night, the victims were forced to clean the blood from their wounds off the station floor using their own vests. The postmortem report indicated 13 external injuries on Beniks’ body and 17 on Jeyaraj’s, most of them blunt-force injuries, complications from which appeared to have caused their deaths.
Citing the prolonged trial, the accused filed several bail petitions before the District Court, High Court, and even the Supreme Court, all of which were dismissed considering the gravity of the charges. While hearing Selvarani’s plea to expedite the trial, the High Court set deadlines for completion, which were extended from time to time at the request of the trial court.
In July 2025, Sridhar filed a plea before the trial court seeking to turn approver, claiming he would fully disclose the events of the incident. The plea was dismissed shortly thereafter.
Noting that nearly four-and-a-half years had elapsed since the commencement of the trial, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, in November 2025, directed the trial court to complete proceedings within three months without fail. In compliance with this directive, Judge G. Muthukumaran concluded the trial and delivered the verdict on Monday.