To many, the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj, 62, and his son Bennicks, 32, in Tamil Nadu’s Sathankulam town could be reminiscent of what Tamil writer M Chandrakumar had to face inside a 10×10 room at Guntur police station in Andhra Pradesh in 1983. It was just that Chandrakumar aka Auto Chandran was fortunate enough to have come out alive and tell his story of police brutality.
READ | ‘Shaken’: Tamil writer who faced custodial torture on Sathankulam deaths
Chandrakumar later wrote about the custodial torture and his time in jail in a book titled ‘Lockup’, which was published in 2006. The book was later adapted into a movie called ‘Visaranai’ (Interrogation) by filmmaker Vetrimaran. Speaking to indianexpress.com, Chandrakumar said he was shaken when he heard about the Sathankulam case in which the father-son duo was thrashed for hours on June 19 evening.
Also Read | Chennai Corporation to put up COVID-19 awareness posters outside each house
Amid outrage over the custodial deaths of a father-son duo at Thoothkudi police station, the Tamil Nadu police on Monday removed 80 police officers serving in the Trichy range for want of ‘interpersonal skills’ in dealing with the public.
READ | Tamil Nadu custodial death impact: 80 cops to be sent for behaviour correction training
In a Facebook post, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Trichy Range) V Balakrishnan said the officers will be gradually reintegrated into their regular duties after they complete a specially designed course to improve the way they deal with the public.
Friends of Police (FoP) has denied the involvement of its volunteers in the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks at Sathankulam last week. In a statement, FoP said, 'We understand that the local police station had enlisted 'volunteers' for Corona-related work. They are not members of FoP. All volunteers cannot be branded as FoP members.'
The statement further said, 'We stand in complete solidarity with the families, friends and social circle of the victims of the tragic incident. We strongly urge everyone not to believe or spread any rumours to this effect.'
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A total of 64 flights will fly between Chennai and major cities today. There will be 32 arrivals and 32 departures at the Chennai International Airport.
Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal took charge as the Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Chennai today. On Tuesday, the state government had reshuffled 39 IPS officers in Tamil Nadu and had appointed Aggarwal as the new CoP, Chennai.
Tamil Nadu on Wednesday reported 3,882 COVID-19 cases taking the state tally to 94,049. With 63 casualties in the last 24 hours, the death toll reached 1,264. Of the total cases, Chennai reported 2,182. So far, 60,533 cases have been reported in the capital city.
Tamil Nadu has conducted 12,02,204 sample tests so far, including 31,521 sample tests in the last 24 hours. Madurai (297), Chengalpet (226), Salem (162), Thiruvallur (147), Ramanathapuram (100) are the other districts where maximum COVID-19 cases were reported.
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The Madras High Court-appointed CB-CID team probing the custodial death of a trader and his son at Sathankulam police station near Thoothukudi arrested a total of four officers in connection with the case.
Those arrested on Thursday include the station inspector Sridhar, sub-inspector Balakrishnan, and a constable Murugan. They are placed in the custody of CB-CID in Thoothukudi before they complete the judicial procedures. Another officer, sub-inspector Raghu Ganesh who was arrested from Thoothukudi was sent to judicial custody on Wednesday night.
Balakrishnan and Murugan were arrested from Tirunelveli and inspector Sridhar was arrested at around 3.30 am from Gangaikondan check-post, one of the gateways of Tirunelveli districts. The arrests were made ahead of the hearing at the Madras high court today.
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Following the arrests of four officers who were involved in the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks at Sathankulam police station, the CB-CID have taken Sridhar, the official in-charge of Sathankulam police station at the time of the incident for questioning.
The CB-CID have arrested four officers over the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and his Bennicks in Sathankulam police station last week. Sub Inspector Raghu Ganesh and head constable Murugan were arrested late on Wednesday night, while SI Balakrishnan and constable Muthuraj were arrested Thursday morning.
SI Raghu Ganesh had been produced before the Thoothukudi criminal court at 2 am, where Judge Hema asked him to be remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.
Residents of Sathankulam took to bursting fire crackers once the arrests were made.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu, Sathankulam custodial deaths and more across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.
To many, the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj, 62, and his son Bennicks, 32, in Tamil Nadu’s Sathankulam town could be reminiscent of what Tamil writer M Chandrakumar had to face inside a 10×10 room at Guntur police station in Andhra Pradesh in 1983.
It was just that Chandrakumar aka Auto Chandran was fortunate enough to have come out alive and tell his story of police brutality.
Chandrakumar, now 58, was picked up while he was working in a hotel on suspicion of being a part of a robbers’ gang. He was subjected to brutal torture in custody for 13 days and was released after five and a half months.
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Accounts submitted to the Madras High Court regarding around a dozen victims of alleged torture at the Sathankulam Police Station at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, which is under probe following the death of a father and son, show similarities in their wounds. Following the court’s intervention, the officers at the station are now facing probe in another case of custodial death, involving a 28-year-old, which happened just days before P Jeyaraj and son J Bennix died.
A source at the High Court said it had received complaints as well as physical evidence regarding torture of around a dozen victims. The officers mostly hit the victims on the buttocks, leaving deep wounds, the source said. Attempts were on to determine the instruments used “to inflict such injuries”.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has offered a solatium of 3 lakh rupees each to the six deceased persons, one lakh each to the severely injured persons and Rs. 50,000 for people who suffered minor injuries during the boiler blast at a Neyveli Lignite Corporation unit earlier today.
The NHRC has sent notices to Tamil Nadu DGP, SP of Tuticorin and Kovilpatti sub-jail SP prisons over the custodial deaths of Jayaraj and Bennicks. The commission has sought post-mortem examination reports, treatment records of thr victims, Magisterial enquiry report, etc. The response is expected within six weeks.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced that with the lockdown in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet extending till July 5, Amma Unavagam canteens in the four districts will serve food for free for people from low income groups till July 5.
Actor turned politician Rajinikanth Wednesday broke his silence on the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks at Sathankulam last week. Taking to Twitter, Rajinikanth tweeted that he was shocked to see the manner in which the police officers had behaved in front of the Sathankulam judicial magistrate. "Everyone involved in the incident should be punished, they should not be let off", he tweeted.
Thangam Selvaraj, the president of the Koyambedu Traders Association succumbed to COVID-19 today.
Five people were killed and 17 were injured after a boiler blast at unit five in plant two of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation today. This is the second such boiler explosion at the plant during the lockdown in Tamil Nadu.
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The state government on Tuesday transferred 39 officers and gave them new postings or appointed to them to posts with existing vacancies across Tamil Nadu. Here is the list of their names and new posts:
During the IPS shuffle in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, officers D Kumar and C Prathaban, who had been kept on the wait list have been transferred. D Kumar is now the Additional Superindent of Police (ASP) for the Prohibition Enforcement Wing in Nilgiris, while C Prathaban has been appointed as the Deputy Superindent of Police (DSP) of the Anti Land Grabbing Special Cell in Pudukottai.
Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, who was appointed as the Commissioner of Police, Chennai on Tuesday will take charge on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu recorded its highest spike till date with 3,942 fresh cases reported on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 90,167. Among these, Chennai reported 2,393 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 58,327.
Besides Chennai, 160 cases were reported in Chengalpattu, 90 in Kancheepuram, 153 in Thiruvallur, nine in Coimbatore, 65 in Cuddalore, 11 in Dharmapuri, 37 in Dindigul, 19 in Erode, 88 in Kallakurichi, 20 each in Kanyakumari and Tiruppur, six in Krishnagiri, 257 in Madurai, two in Nagapattinam, three in Namakkal, seven in Nilgiris, 36 in Ramanathapuram, 24 in Ranipet, 25 in Salem, 50 in Sivagangai, 11 in Tenkasi, 23 in Thanjavur, 75 in Theni, 22 in Thirupathur, 16 in Thiruvannamalai, 12 in Thiruvarur, 40 in Thoothukudi, 45 in Tirunelveli, 20 in Tiruppur, 40 in Trichy, 70 in Vellore, 47 in Villupuram, 49 in Virudhunagar and one in Karur districts.
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Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu, unlock phase 1 and more across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.