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Tamil Nadu: Forced by cop to retract complaint on custodial torture, says Victim
In a turn of events, another victim of custodial torture row alleges he was pressured by the police to deny his previous claims and say that he fell down and broke his teeth.
Chennai: A day after a victim of alleged custodial torture by suspended IPS officer Balveer Singh turned hostile saying that he fell down and broke his tooth, another victim in Tamil Nadu said on Thursday that he was pressured by the police to say the same
An auto driver Vetha Narayanan, speaking to HT over phone, said that a police constable called to meet him around 1.30pm on Wednesday near a jewellery shop in Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district. “He told me to retract (on the complaint) and give it in writing that I fell down and broke my tooth,” Narayanan said.
The the constable could not be reached out for his comment
Amid a marital dispute, his wife had filed a complaint against him in the Ambasamudram police station, so when Narayanan was called on March 23, he said that Singh tortured him in custody.
“He pulled out one tooth and I started feeling dizzy so he stomped on me and left me,” says Narayanan. “The police constable told me that since he is an IPS officer, I should be sensible and not complain against him. The police said that they will do whatever I ask for and my life will be settled. But I said I won’t lie and ran away because more police started gathering. They couldn’t do anything to me because it was a public place. I took my auto on the interior roads and escaped.”
Singh, a 2020-batch officer, in his first posting as assistant superintendent of police in Tirunelveli district, has been accused of pulling the teeth of several men and crushing testicles of two men inside the Ambasamudram police station.
Even while chief minister M K Stalin said that he has ordered the suspension of Singh, one of the victims, Surya did a volte face saying that he fell down and broke his tooth.
Mohamed Shabbir Alam, the sub-collector and sub-divisional magistrate of Cheranmahadevi, who is probing the case, put out a notice on Thursday for those affected by custodial torture to submit written petitions to him before April 10.
One of the victims, Subhash, On Thursday submitted a written statement that Singh pulled out four of his teeth using a cutting plier. He showed his meeting teeth to reporters following the enquiry. “I’m scared now that the police will harm me further because I have given a written statement. So if anything happens to me or my family, the police are responsible,” said Subhash. “They (police) gave me money saying it’s for my treatment and told me to ask them for more should I require.”
The alleged custodial torture came to light after three men -- E Esakimuthu, his younger brother Chellapa and their relative Arul -- spoke in a video of the brutality they suffered under Singh on March 10. Chellappa who submitted his statement on Thursday also added that they are afraid that police will be vengeful. “There is no guarantee for our life when we go to the police station to sign for our conditional bail everyday,” he said.
He added that their plight has become like that of Jayaraj and Bennicks who died inside police custody in 2021 in Santhakumar in Thoothukudi district which shocked the country.
