CHENNAI: Two Chennai police personnel have been booked after a 24-year-old jeweller from Rajasthan’s Pali district died by suicide in the northwestern state on Wednesday, triggering protests by family members.
The family members claimed the jeweller ended his life following harassment by the Chennai police personnel and a city-based jeweller. However, the Chennai police denied the involvement of its staff in the incident.
The two personnel have been identified as Shiva and Gopi, constables attached to the Elephant Gate station. Investigators in Rajasthan are examining the possible role of a Chennai police inspector, whose name has surfaced during inquiries, sources said.
The deceased, identified as Vinod Kumar alias Vardaram Gurjar, along with his brother Budharam (22), consumed poison allegedly following repeated threats and extortion demands linked to a theft case registered in Chennai.
The family alleged a Chennai-based jeweller, Mahavir, along with Shiva and Gopi, pressurised the brothers to confess to the theft and threatened to physically assault them. They also claimed the two personnel also threatened that they would attach the brothers’ ancestral land in Pali district.
Though senior police officials cinfirmed that the personnel from Elephant Gate station had travelled to Rajasthan in connection with the case, they denied their involvement, claiming the officers had returned to Chennai before the incident.
Vardaram died at AIIMS Jodhpur, while Budharam is undergoing treatment.
Following the death, the family members staged a protest outside the AIIMS mortuary and engaged in heated arguments with the police in Bagri Nagar, demanding registration of an FIR and arrest of those named.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s helpline 104 and Sneha’s helpline 044-24640050)
