HC orders revenue officials to take control of Sathankulam police station

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday asked the Tuticorin District Collector to depute officials from the Revenue Department to take control of the Sathankulam police station.

The court, hearing the custodial death of father and son, also said it was for the Tamil Nadu government to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

P. Jeyaraj and J. Bennicks, the father and son duo, had been booked for not closing their mobile shop in time on June 19 by the Sathankulam police. They were remanded to judicial custody and lodged in Kovilpatti jail on June 21.

Jeyaraj died on June 22 night and Bennicks on June 23 morning in the judicial custody, allegedly due to the police torture.

The court took suo moto cognizance of the case.

The court also asked the forensic team to collect all the materials to protect the evidence after the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Tuticorin, who was monitoring the case, submitted that the Sathankulam police were not cooperating with the probe being conducted by the Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate.

When the government counsel asked for permission to transfer the probe to the CBI, the court said it was a policy decision and its permission was not needed.

To control the damage, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Sunday announced transfer of the probe to the CBI and said the high court's permission would be sought for it.