TIRUNELVELI: On the first day of hearing in the custodial torture case involving suspended Ambasamudram ASP Balveer Singh IPS and 14 other police personnel held before the Tirunelveli Judicial Magistrate I on Friday, all the accused were allowed to go by the court, after they filed bonds under Section 88 of CrPC, despite strong demand by the victims to send them to police remand.
Balveer Singh and others, accused of removing teeth of suspects using pliers in Ambasamudram, Kallidaikurichi and Vikramasingapuram police stations over multiple periods since March 10, were served with nearly 250 pages of separate charge sheets. The contents of the charge sheets, however, were not disclosed to the victims. The case’s next hearing will be on December 26.
Balveer Singh and others appeared before the magistrate at about 10.45 am and the court was adjourned four times through the day. Appearing for the victims, advocates Maharajan and Madasamy argued that the public prosecutor who is supposed to argue for the victims is supporting the accused to get bail. They expressed their opposition for allegedly bringing Balveer Singh and others via the corridor meant for the magistrate. Later, Tirunelveli bar association office-bearers advised CB-CID sleuths to use the main entrance to bring the accused to the court.
The counsels also urged the court to not allow the accused to leave the court hall till the end of the hearing. Speaking to reporters later in the day, the advocates said the refusal by police to arrest Balveer Singh and others would weaken the case and that they would move the Madras High Court against the magistrate’s order. “The CB-CID sleuths did not even seize the pliers used by the accused to remove the teeth of the victims or their bloodstained shirts. The victims and their families are facing threats from the accused,” they said.
Durairaj, one of the advocates appearing for the accused, welcomed the decision of the magistrate to not remand the accused, and said the police personnel have not committed any crime. Rajakumari, Abraham Joseph, Ramalingam, Sudalai, Vignesh, Muthu Selvakumaran, Murugesh, Saddam Hussain, Manikandan, Karthik Babu, and Esakkiraja are among the police personnel accused in the case.
Apart from Singh, no one has been suspended in the case so far by the government. More than 10 victims were affected in the alleged custodial torture. The cases against accused were initially registered under various sections of the IPC, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The SC/ST (PoA) Act sections were removed later.