Cell phone conversation record helped the TN State Human Rights Commission resolve a case relating to human rights violations by a police officer.
According to Kailash, the Executive Officer (EO) of a temple in Thoothukudi, he went to the police station in Alwarthirunagari in Tiruchendur taluk to assist the investigating officer in a murder case. The temple had an elephant and two mahouts to look after it. Following mutual rivalry, assistant mahout Perumal was murdered on December 7, 2006.
Kailash went to the police station on his own around 10 pm on December 10, 2006 to help the police officer probing the case. However, inspector Manoharan, now under suspension, made the EO sit on the floor for about six hours, abused and assaulted him. Kailash was allowed to go home next day at 4 am. However, inspector Manoharan completely denied all the allegations.
A copy of the itemized invoice in respect of the cell phone of Kailash had been marked as an exhibit, along with the complaint. One of the entries showed that a call was made from his mobile to a landline belonging to Alwarthirunagari police station before 10 pm on December 10.
That tallied with the version of the complainant that on the December 10 around 10 pm he contacted Alwarthirunagari Police Station, asked whether he should visit it in connection with the murder case and thereafter went there. As a result, the contra version of the inspector that Kailash was summoned to the police station only on December 12 and not before and after, for interrogation, was disproved, the panel said.
“Hence this Commission has no hesitation to hold that the inspector had harassed, ill treated and beat Kailash besides illegally detaining him at the police station from 10 pm to 4 am on the night of December 10 under the guise of interrogation in the murder case,’’ SHRC chairman Justice K Bhaskaran observed.
The chairman awarded a compensation of `50,000 for Kailash. The State should pay the amount within four weeks and recover the same from the inspector, besides initiating departmental proceedings against him, Justice Bhaskaran added.