TENKASI: The family members of farmer V Anthonyraj who died by suicide over alleged manhandling by police received his body from the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH) on Tuesday after the three accused cops were suspended.
The suspended cops belong to the Sivagiri police station. The Sivagiri police have also registered a case against the suspended cops for abetting the suicide of V Anthonyraj.
The suspended personnel are police inspector Muralidharan and constables Kanagaraj and Karumuthu Kannan, said police sources.
Deshmukh Shekhar Sanjay, Deputy Inspector General of Police (in-charge), Tirunelveli Range, suspended them on Tuesday.
The other day, Anthonyraj’s relatives staged a protest in Sivagiri demanding action against the police personnel over the suicide. A case was soon registered against the trio. However, the protesters demanded their suspension and refused to receive his body from the hospital.
Anthonyraj died at the TvMCH on Sunday where he was admitted after consuming poison outside the police station on May 21.
“Police had repeatedly called Anthonyraj to the police station since May 1 after his neighbour filed a complaint over a land dispute.
On May 15 the police inspector allegedly slapped Anthonyraj and verbally abused him. The inspector also went to his village, Thalavaipuram, and searched for his son Esakkiraja, thus frightening the family. Anthonyraj thereafter petitioned senior police officers and the State Human Rights Commission, Tamil Nadu, against the Inspector,” said police sources.
Upset over the developments Anthonyraj took the extreme step by popping poison nearly a week ago.
Meanwhile, Esakkiraja demanded police to hand over the CCTV footage from the Sivagiri police station since the day his father first appeared there for questioning.