Tamil Nadu IPS officer removed over torture charges, probe on

Singh did not respond to calls for a comment.

The office of the state DGP said the Inspector General of South Zone was asked to make additional charges until another officer is posted; the accused officer is being shifted to Chennai on compulsory wait, pending inquiry and further actions.

According to a top official in the DGP office, Singh, who comes from Tonk in Rajasthan and belongs to 2020 batch, lives with his family at Ambasamudram, near Tirunelveli.

“A B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, he cleared the civil services in his fifth attempt and previously worked with the Indian Oil Corporation in Faridabad. He joined the post in August 2022. There were no complaints against him earlier…” the official said.

Photos and videos of the victims, including men with their teeth missing, are circulating on social media, triggering a strong outrage. The government subsequently took up the case for a probe.

One of the videos shows a victim allegedly tortured by Singh, Chellappa, accusing Singh of torturing them inside a police station a few days ago. He and his brothers had a dispute with their relatives and all of them had been brought to the police station that day, Chellappa claimed in the video.

He alleged that Singh, who was initially in uniform, changed into a T-shirt, track pants and white gloves and called him in first. “Two officers gripped my hands and Sir (Singh) pulled my hair back and used a stone to break my teeth,” he alleged in the video, opening his mouth to show his top incisor tooth missing. “He kept knocking on my tooth. He tore my gums. I was bleeding but he didn’t let go of me. He also beat my brother and relatives,” he alleged.

Chellappa alleged that Singh broke the teeth of five others using stones.

All victims of the custodial torture are now out on conditional bail.

Chellappa alleged that Singh crushed his brother’s testicles with his hands and stomped on his chest, leaving him unable to eat or stand for long.

The videos showed the victims alleging that they were made to wear only trousers and were hit all over the body. Chellappa’s elder brother, Isakkimuthu, showed an injury on his back, which he alleged was caused by the police officer.

Another man next to Chellappa in the video showed three of his teeth broken.

“Police told us not to reveal the torture sessions when we were produced before the magistrate,” Chellappa claimed.