Custodial death: SHRC slaps Rs 5L on Madurai cops

It also asked the State government to initiate criminal and disciplinary actions against the two officers.

Velladurai, who was the AC of Anna Nagar, Madurai, at the time of the incident, had shot to prominence after being part of encounter of notorious gangster Ayodhyakuppam Veeramani more than 15 years ago. He was also part of the team that killed forest brigand Veerappan.

The SHRC direction came following a complaint from A Muniyandi, a scavenger in Virudhunagar municipality. His son Suresh had gone missing on December 2, 2011. Muniyandi and family members searched for Suresh but couldn’t find him. On December 13, Virudhunagar West police contacted the Muniyandi’s brother-in-law over phone and informed that two constables from Madurai have come in search of the him. The policemen from Madurai informed him that Suresh was dead and his body was kept in Government Rajaji Hospital.

When they reached there, his kin found injuries on Suresh’s left leg. The policemen claimed that Suresh was beaten up by the public when he attempted to steal a two-wheeler along with his friend, David, at Arapalayam on December 5. They added that he was admitted to hospital on the same day, but he did without responding to treatment on December 13. Police had booked Suresh and David under Sections 379 and 511 of the IPC.

However, when the Muniyandi’s advocate met the co-accused, David, in prison, he said the public had handed over them to Karimedu police on December 2, suspecting them to be two-wheeler thieves. While in custody, Suresh was brutally assaulted by the police and was detained in the lockup till December 5 before admitted him at the hospital, David told the advocate.

However, Velladurai and the then inspector of Karimedu station, R Vivekanandan, denied the allegations, claiming that the two accused persons were arrested only on December 5 morning and Suresh was admitted to the hospital on the same day. They added that the accused had told the medical officer that they suffered injuries while trying to escape from the public. David was sentenced to eight months in prison for the crime, they pointed out.

However, based on evidence produced before it and also the report of the Judicial Magistrate, the SHRC held that Suresh suffered torture, bodily injuries, humiliationand violation of the human rights leading to his death.

Commission member D Jayachandran directed the State government to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Muniyandi within a month, and recover Rs 2.5 lakh each from Velladurai and Vivekanandan. The SHRC also recommended initiating criminal prosecution against them for Suresh’s death and also disciplinary action as per rules.