Suspended Inspector Srithar nabbed after car chase

Madurai

With the CB-CID already on the lookout for Srithar after the arrest of Sub-Inspector Raghu Ganesh on Wednesday, also under suspension in connection with the deaths of the traders, the Inspector, realising that his arrest was imminent, tried to flee to his hometown Theni from Tirunelveli. However, the CB-CID team, led by Deputy SP Anil Kumar, Tirunelveli, received a tip-off about him, hunted him down and finally caught him at the Gangaikondan check post on the Tirunelveli-Madurai highway.

Earlier, the investigation agency had alerted the local police, who beefed up patrol along check posts bordering Tirunelveli and its neighbouring Thoothukudi to keenly monitor vehicular movements. They alerted the CB-CID sleuths, who followed Srithar’s car and arrested him before he could reach Theni.

After the detention of Ganesh, four others, including Srithar, Balakrishnan, another suspended SI, and Murugan, head constable, have been arrested on murder charges. Apart from murder charges, the CB-CID also filed cases against them for destroying evidence, sources said. “All important police personnel involved in the incident have been arrested...the investigation continues,” CB-CID Inspector General of Police, K Shankar said.

On Thursday evening, Srithar, Balakrishnan and Murugan, were produced before the Thoothukudi Judicial Magistrate and remanded to 15-day custody.

HC lauds CB-CID: Lauding the role of the CB-CID in the probe into the Sathankulam custodial deaths, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court said within a day of the investigating agency taking over, the case gained a lot of momentum, leading to the arrest of several police personnel on murder charges. The division bench of Justices PN Prakash and B Pugalendhi said the pace of investigation has instilled hope within the family members of Jayaraj and Bennix and they too hope that justice prevails in the case. The CB-CID team has even won the confidence of the public, they said, adding, all cases must be handled in this manner by the police.

They also sanctioned Thoothukudi Chief Judicial Magistrate special powers to conduct further inquiries. The bench also directed the government to provide adequate security to the key eye-witness Revathy, head constable of Sathankulam police station. One police officer said that she has been given a paid one month leave acceding her request.

Meanwhile, Justice Prakash spoke to Revathy, the key eye-witness, who has been listed as prosecution witness.