Seven CBI officers, two accused policemen in Thoothukudi custodial deaths case test positive for Covid-19

Covid-19 has struck the probe into the alleged custodial deaths of a father and his son in Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district. So far, seven sleuths from the CBI, which is investigating the case, and two accused policemen from the Sathankulam police station have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

CBI took over the sensational case from the Tamil Nadu police’s CB-CID wing early this month and swung into action immediately. However, seven sleuths of the central agency are under treatment for Covid-19 after their swab samples returned positive. With this, only one officer handling the case is unaffected by Covid-19.

Two accused policemen – one head constable and a constable – who are currently in Madurai Central Jail have also tested positive for the coronavirus, sources said.

The CBI admitted before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday that seven officials of the agency have tested positive for coronavirus. This piece of information was told to the court by a law officer representing the agency during a hearing of the suo motu case on Tuesday.

The agency has been asked to file a status report of the case in a sealed cover on August 17. Meanwhile, the CB-CID which handled the investigations initially filed a status report before the court on Tuesday.

Jeyaraj and his son Bennix were arrested by police in Sathankulam town, 635 km from here, in Thoothukudi district over an argument on June 19. The father-son duo was allegedly tortured during police custody leading to their deaths, three days later. While Bennix breathed his last on June 22, Jeyaraj died a few hours later in the early hours of June 23.

After the Madurai Bench took suo motu cognizance of the case, 10 policemen have been arrested so far.