The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a charge sheet against the nine suspended policemen of the Sattankulam police station, who were involved in the custodial deaths of trader P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks, before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Madurai.
The charge sheet has been filed against the then inspector S. Sridhar, sub-inspectors P. Raghu Ganesh and K. Balakrishnan, head constables S. Murugan and A. Saamidurai and constables M. Muthuraj, S. Chelladurai, X. Thomas Francis and S. Veilumuthu. Special sub-inspector Pauldurai, an accused in the case, died after contracting COVID-19.
The charges against the accused are under Section 120 B (party to a criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), read with Sections 302 (murder), 342 (wrongful confinement), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 182 (false information), 193 (false evidence), 211 (false charge of offence), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
The accused are now in judicial custody and lodged in the Madurai Central Prison.
The CBI, which took over the investigation, registered two cases against the accused on July 7. The investigation has revealed that the father and the son were arrested on the evening of June 19 and allegedly tortured at the Sattankulam station by the accused policemen. A false case was registered against them by the accused policemen, and the post-mortem reports revealed that they died owing to blunt injuries.
Further investigation is under way to find out the role of other persons in the case, the CBI said in a statement.
