NE NEWS SERVICE
MADURAI, AUG 10
A Special Sub Inspector (SSI) Pauldurai attached to Sathankulam Police station was arrested in connection with the custodial deaths of Jayaraj and Bennix died in the wee hours on Monday.
He was admitted in Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital after he was tested positive for COVID-19.
According to media reports, the 56-year-old policeman died in the wee hours of Monday while he was being treated for COVID-19. He was arrested along with four other policemen on July 8 by the CB-CID, which was directed to take the probe into the custodial death case of Jayaraj and Bennix from Sathankulam as per the orders of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.
Pauldurai was remanded to judicial custody in Madurai Central Prison on July 14. Hardly after ten days, he was tested positive for COVID-19, and was admitted to the government hospital in Madurai. Sources close to the official said that he was suffering from diabetes and other ailments and his condition was critical condition since Saturday last.
The deceased Pauldurai was arrested along with four other policemen – Chelladurai, Saamadurai, Veyilamuthu and Thomas – in connection with custodial death case.
All of them were booked under Section 302 (Punishment for murder), Section 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence), Section 342 r/w 107 (Punishment for wrongful confinement) of the IPC.
Their arrests came after the CB-CID had arrested five other policemen on July 19 who were on duty in the Sathankulam police station – Inspector Sridhar, Sub Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghuganesh, and constables Murugan and Muthuraj the week before. These five policemen were booked by the CB-CID for the custodial death.
Jayaraj and Bennix were picked up by the Sathankulam police on June 19 for allegedly keeping their mobile phone shop open beyond the permitted hours of lockdown. After being taken to the station, the two were allegedly assaulted by the policemen before they were remanded. On June 22, Bennix complained of chest pain while in the Kovilpatti prison and died later at the Kovilpatti Government Hospital while his father Jayaraj also died within a few hours on June 23.
The incident caused massive outrage across the country with the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court taking suo motu cognisance of the case and ordered CB-CID to conduct an investigation. Meanwhile, the state government announced that the CBI will take over the investigation. Even after the government’s announcement, the CB-CID pursued the case to prevent manipulation of evidences as per the court’s direction till the CBI virtually took over the case.
