Custodial deaths: Suspended inspector denied bail

When the bail petition came up for hearing, Justice V Bharathidasan dismissed the plea on the grounds that the investigations in the case were in progress.

The CBI, which is probing the case, had opposed the granting of bail to the accused cop.

The victim Jayaraj’s wife, Selvarani who also filed an intervening petition, strongly objected to granting bail to Sridhar. She said as the accused is a police official, there is the possibility that he might tamper with the witnesses of the case, if let out on bail.

During the course of hearing of the bail petition, the CBI on September 8 informed the HC that false cases were registered against the father-son duo and they were tortured by the police personnel at the Sathankulam police station, in the presence of Srithar.

The post-mortem reports revealed multiple injuries on the bodies of Jayaraj and Bennix and the cause of the deaths was due to the blunt injuries sustained by them. As per the post-mortem report, 17 injuries were found on the body of Jayaraj, while 13 injuries were found on the body of Bennix.

Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID police had arrested 10 police personnel of Sathankulam police station in connection with the custodial deaths.

The State government on June 29 transferred the custodial deaths case to the CBI.

On June 19, Jayaraj and Bennix were picked up for questioning by Sathankulam police for allegedly violating lockdown rules by keeping their mobile accessories shop open beyond permissible hours. An FIR was filed against them, the same day. They were allegedly assaulted by the police while in custody, leading to their deaths.