CBI files charge sheet in Tamil Nadu custodial death

A bench of justices SM Subramaniam and G Arul Murugan asked the CBI to file a status report on September 24

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Wednesday that it has filed a charge sheet in the case of the custodial death of a temple guard, Ajith Kumar in Sivaganga district on June 29.

Post-mortem report showed that kumar had many injuries after 5 cops had picked him up (File photo)

The charge sheet was filed before the chief judicial magistrate of Madurai, officials submitted to the court. A bench of justices SM Subramaniam and G Arul Murugan asked the CBI to file a status report on September 24. Details of the contents of the chargesheet and who has been named are yet to be revealed in the case that caused a political furore in the state.

Five policemen (S Raja, A Anand, S Sankaramanikandan, G Praphu and G Kannan) were suspended over the death of the security guard and were subsequently arrested soon after the authorities received the post-mortem report. It showed that the temple guard had suffered multiple injuries, including contusion to his head and chest.

Police picked up Kumar for questioning on June 27 after a woman filed a complaint, saying 10 sovereigns of gold jewellery kept in a bag went missing after she gave her keys to Kumar to park her car near the Madapuram Bhadrakali Amman temple. The victim’s brother Naveen Kumar alleged that police beat them while transporting them to different places. Ajith was declared dead after he was taken to a hospital on June 29, after complaining of discomfort.

The division bench had earlier come down heavily on the state government for the police brutality saying the action taken so far was not commensurate with the gravity of the incident.