MADURAI: A 22-year-old youngster, who was recently arrested by the Avaniapuram Police for allegedly kidnapping a 23-year-old MBA graduate, died at the Government Rajaji Hospital on Friday. Balamurugan, the accused, was admitted to the hospital three days back. He was arrested on October 21 by one of the three special teams formed by Commissioner S Davidson Devasirvatham to probe the kidnapping of Parthiban, a resident of Villapuram.
Parthiban was allegedly kidnapped by Balamurugan along with his associates R Saravanan and C Murugan. They held him hostage for a day in Kovilpatti and demanded a ransom of `15 lakh from his parents. Parthiban’s father is a retired army personnel and his mother was a teacher. Balamurugan is said to have released Parthiban from his custody on October 21, hours after which he and two of his associates were arrested.
Subsequently, five others were also arrested in connection with the case. On October 22, Tuesday, Balamurugan was admitted to the Trauma Care Centre of the GH with a knee injury. The following day he was shifted to the Intensive Respiratory Care Unit. Hospital Dean K Vanitha said the accused had suffered patella fracture (on the kneecap) and respiratory arrest. Despite being put on life support, his condition deteriorated over the days, she said.
On Thursday, judicial magistrates visited Balamurugan at the hospital to record his statement. Meanwhile, his relatives started a protest outside the GH, claiming he had been subjected to custodial torture. Balamurugan’s mother said the family was neither informed about his arrest nor that he had been hospitalised.On Friday, Balamurugan’s father moved the High Court bench, seeking an investigation by a judicial magistrate into the death. He also appealed for the postmortem to be videotaped.
Dad wants Balamurugan autopsy to be videotaped
Balamurugan's family was up in arms on Friday, after he died at the GRH. His mother alleged that she learnt about her son's arrest and death from media reports. "The police department did not bother about informing us," she said. District Revenue Officer P Selvaraj held talks with the family members and assured appropriate action, following which they dispersed from the GH premises.
Meanwhile, hearing a petition filed by Balamurugan's father, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Avaniyapuram Police Inspector to preserve CCTV footage of the station recorded between October 20 and 22, and hand over the same to the Madurai Police Commissioner.
Muthukaruppan, the petitioner, prayed for a series of directions -- videotaping his son's postmortem, transferring the case to CBI, and an inquiry by a judicial magistrate. However, when the case was taken up, the government pleader claimed Balamurugan was still alive. The court then said that in case of Balamurugan's death, his postmortem has to be videotaped.