MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has directed DGP C Sylendra Babu to transfer a case pertaining to a man’s suicide following alleged custodial torture by police, to the CB-CID. Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan also ordered the CB-CID to complete the probe within 12 weeks while hearing a petition filed by the deceased M Eswaran’s mother M Rengammal.
In her petition, Rengammal said her son had given a dying declaration that police had beat him up and coerced him to admit to a crime he did not commit.
“The police told him that if he didn’t admit to the crime, they would foist a case against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. My son fled from the police station and set himself on fire only due to the custody torture. The city police initially registered a 309 IPC case and later converted it to 174 CrPC. However, they refrained from booking the policemen for abetment to suicide,” she submitted.
In the status report submitted to the court, the police claimed Eswaran was in possession of liquor bottles when he was detained.
“We received a tip-off that some persons were selling liquor illegally in the area, and we rushed to the spot. Eswaran along with another person was standing there and we found liquor bottles on them. The deceased already had three cases pending against him,” they added.
Observing that a fair probe may not be conducted if police investigated the case, the court transferred the case to CB-CID.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)