MADURAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday that it has filed a chargesheet before the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Madurai in the case registered over the custodial torture and death of a temple guard, B Ajithkumar, of the Madapuram Badrakali Amman temple in Sivaganga.
Apart from the five policemen, S Raja, A Anand, S Sankaramanikandan, G Prabhu, and G Kannan, who were initially arrested in the case, the chargesheet also includes one more suspect, Ramachandran, the driver of the vehicle in which the victim was allegedly transported to different locations where he was tortured, the counsel representing the CBI told the court.
Further investigation would be conducted based on the reports to be obtained from the Central Forensic Science Laboratories in New Delhi and Hyderabad, and the involvement of higher officials or any other persons would be ascertained, he added.
A bench comprising justices S M Subramaniam and G Arul Murugan appreciated the CBI for its swift action and directed it to file a status report on 24 September on further progress in the case.
Noting that the agency is yet to receive the files relating to the connected jewel theft case, during the inquiry of which Ajithkumar was subjected to custodial torture, the Bench directed the state police to hand over the case files to the CBI within a week, with further directions to the CBI to register an FIR and probe the case expeditiously.
During the hearing, Additional Advocate General M Ajmal Khan informed the court that the additional compensation of Rs 25 lakh, which was directed to be paid to the victim's family, had been disbursed and that witness protection had been extended to five witnesses in the case based on a direction from the Sivagangai district court.
However, one of the petitioners' counsel told the court that the direction of the district court had not been implemented in entirety and that the witnesses still lacked some protection, such as fencing.
He also highlighted the absence of a vulnerable witness deposition centre in Madurai. The Bench directed the Thirupuvanam police inspector to verify whether the order regarding witness protection had been fully implemented within a week.
