HC refuses to order CBI probe into Chennai youth’s custodial death

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court rejected a petition filed for a direction to transfer the case of Chennai-based youth Vignesh’s custodial death to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the state’s Crime Branch and Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID).

Justice V Sivagnanam passed the orders on dismissing the petition filed by V Vignesh’s brother V Vinoth and his kin. The petitioners prayed that the custodial death case should be transferred from the files of CB-CID to the CBI and further to direct the CBI to file a periodic investigation report before the court.

According to the petitioners, the Investigating Officer is not properly conducting the investigation into the custodial death of Vignesh while the latter was detained in the Secretariat Colony Police Station on April 18.

“One Mohandas, Inspector of Police, came to the petitioner’s house, threatened him, and also attempted to give rupees one lakh to close the matter. No notice was given to the petitioners while the accused/police personnel filed bail petitions, as per Section 15-A of SC/ST (POA) Act,” the petitioner’s counsel submitted.

The Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that the case should not be transferred to the CBI while the investigation is at the ending stage.

“During the course of the investigation, the CB-CID, so far, examined 84 witnesses and further recorded the statements of two witnesses under Section 164 CrPC, secured 15 CCTV footages, and recovered material objects from the concerned police station,” APP argued.

Recording the submissions, the judge said that on a perusal of the investigation status report, he did not find any materials to show that the present investigating agency, CB-CID conducted the investigation in a tainted or biased manner. He dismissed the plea saying that there is no need for a CBI probe in the case.