2 cops named in case being probed for one more custodial killing

Chennai: Two of the Sathankulam station policemen arrested for the murder of father and son P Jayaraj (59) and J Bennicks (31) have been implicated in another case

Chennai: Two of the Sathankulam station policemen arrested for the murder of father and son P Jayaraj (59) and J Bennicks (31) have been implicated in another case of alleged custodial torture that led to the eventual death of a 28-year-old man in June.

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The Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Wednesday issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government, the state director general of police (DGP), home secretary and the superintendent of police of Thoothukudi, Jayakumar, to respond to the case filed by S Vadivu, the mother of S Mahendran, who died on June 13 reportedly due to injuries sustained while he was kept for a night at the Sathankulam police station in May.

Jayakumar told Hindustan Times that a response will be filed after the inquiry into Mahendran’s death by additional superintendent of police, Selvam, is complete.

Bennicks and Jayaraj died after they were reportedly beaten with lathis through the night of their arrest on June 19.

Mahendran’s mother Vadivu (65) claimed in her affidavit that her son was picked up by sub inspector Raghu Ganesh of the Sathankulam police station on May 23 and tortured in connection with a murder case in which Mahendran’s brother, Durai, was a suspect. Her affidavit also names inspector Sridhar.

Mahendran, a construction worker, was not an accused in the case, she added.

Sridhar and Raghu Ganesh along with three other policemen are charged with the murder of the father and son duo and are currently lodged in the Madurai central prison.

According to an affidavit filed by Vadivu, sub inspector Raghu Ganesh along with few other cops visited her house on May 22, searching for Durai as they suspected his involvement in the murder of a certain Jeyakumar on May 18 in Peikulam.

On May 23 at 2 am, the police landed up at Mahendran’s aunt’s house. “They dragged my younger son Mahendran out and started to beat him brutally all over the body, including his private parts,” the affidavit said. “The policemen attacked him in his head also and he sustained head injury. Raghu Ganesh dragged him to the police station (Sathankulam) saying that he will not release him unless Durai surrenders and kept my son illegally.”

Depending on his work Mahendran would stay in Peikulam (in Sathankulam) with his mother, or at his aunt’s home in Papanakulam, Thoothukudi. His father died in 2009 while his brother Durai, 35, and sister Santhanam, 30, are married and live in neighbouring villages.

Mahendran was let off after a day in police custody and his mother took him to the Thoothukudi government hospital on June 11 after he couldn’t move his right hand and complained of headaches. A scan revealed that he had suffered brain injury, and he died two days later.

“They are a very poor family and were too scared to go to the police to file an FIR or even ask for a post-mortem report,” Mahendran's paternal uncle M Perumal told HT.

“As per medical reports the death of my son was due to a blood clot in his brain which happened only due to the brutal attack by Raghu Ganesh and Inspector Sridhar (who is also arrested for Bennicks’ murder),” Vadivu’s affidavit stated.

The Crime Branch, Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) charged five policemen with the murder of Bennicks and Jayaraj, who died on June 22 and 23 respectively. Five more policemen were arrested on Wednesday for wrongful confinement, among other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The father and son were arrested for keeping their mobile repair shop open beyond the curfew imposed due to the lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation sent a team to the state to take over the investigation.