COIMBATORE/CHENNAI: Following allegations that YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar was tortured by Coimbatore Central Prison personnel, a five-member team headed by D Shanmugavel, chief legal aid defence counsel of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and two doctors, visited the prison and held an investigation on Tuesday. The report will be submitted before the Judicial Magistrate - IV on Wednesday.
Talking to reporters at the court, Shankar’s counsel S Gopalakrishnan alleged that his client was denied treatment for the hand fracture and was suffering in pain. The counsel showed an order copy given to the prison authority by Theni police for effecting arrest in a case related to Shankar and two others possessing ganja while they were staying in Theni on Saturday. Shankar had acknowledged receipt of the order affixing his left thumb impression instead of signing. “Shankar did so because his right hand is fractured following the assault,” Gopalakrishnan said.
Responding to the allegation, the prison department in a release said, no prisoner has been assaulted.
In another development, the fourth judicial magistrate court in Coimbatore on Tuesday posted to hear the bail plea submitted by Shankar on charges of making derogatory remarks, on May 10. The magistrate ordered that police petition seeking custody will be heard on May 9.
Fresh cases
Salem cyber crime police on Tuesday registered another case against Shankar based on a complaint by a women sub-inspector demanding action against him for posting a video in which he spoke in an obscene manner about Tamil Nadu women police. Acting on her complaint, Shankar was booked under sections 294(b), 353, and 509 of the IPC, read with Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The cyber crime wing of CCB Chennai too registered a case against Shankar based on a complaint lodged by journalist Sandhya Ravishankar in 2018.
In a post on X, she said Shankar had made derogatory comments against her in a blog post.
Earlier, the head of the Tamilar Munnetra Padai Veeralakshmi lodged a complaint against Shankar and Felix Gerald of Red Pix for making derogatory comments about women cops based on which both men have been booked.
