The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday secured two-day custody of five policemen involved in the alleged custodial death of a father and his son in Thoothukudi district.
The CBI has taken over the sensational case from the CB-CID Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police which investigated the case for over a week.
Inspector Sridhar, sub-inspectors Raghu Ganesh and Balakrishnan and head constable Muthu Raj and constable Murugan were sent to CBI custody for two days after the agency made a plea before Principal District and Sessions Judge Hemant Kumar.
Though the CBI sought seven-day custody, the court granted the agency two-day custody of the policemen, who were arrested in the first week of July. The policemen are accused of torturing the father-son duo, who were arrested on June 19 over an argument with two cops near their shop in Sathankulam, 630 km from here.
P Jeyaraj (61), and Emmanuel Bennix (31), died of the injuries allegedly sustained during the custody three days later at a government hospital in Kovilpatti. Their deaths triggered a massive outrage and the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court took suo motu cognizance of the case and ordered a post-mortem in the presence of doctors appointed by it.
Even as the Tamil Nadu government transferred the case to CBI, the high court asked the CB-CID to step in till the time CBI takes over the case formally to prevent evidence from dissipating.
A total of 10 policemen have, so far, been arrested by the CB-CID.
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