Court Orders CID Probe Into Alleged Custodial Death Of Man In Tamil Nadu

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court today ordered a probe by the Crime Branch-CID (CBCID) into the alleged custodial death of a 30-year-old man, Dinesh Kumar, in Madurai. The court also directed that an immediate postmortem be conducted and that CCTV footage from the vicinity of the Vandiyur check post be preserved.

The order came after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by advocate and Dalit community leader C. Selvakumar, President of the Madurai District Devendrakula Velalar Uravinar Sangam, alleging that Dinesh Kumar — a Scheduled Caste youth — was tortured to death in police custody on October 9.

According to the affidavit filed in court, Dinesh Kumar, who was living with his family at Yagappa Nagar in Madurai, was picked up by police personnel attached to E3 Anna Nagar Police Station around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, allegedly for an inquiry. The petitioner alleged that later that day, Dinesh's mother, Muthulakshmi, was told that her son had "escaped and fallen into a canal," which the family claims is a false and fabricated story meant to cover up custodial torture.

In her detailed written complaint to the Madurai City Police Commissioner, Muthulakshmi alleged that Inspector Flower Sheela, along with constables Nagaraj, Kamu, and another unidentified policeman, forcibly entered their home, dragged her son out, beat him, and took him away in a police vehicle.

The mother's complaint also accuses the officers of caste abuse and prior harassment. She claimed one of the accused policemen had earlier threatened her husband, allegedly saying, "You people of this caste dare to question the police? I will kill your son."

According to the family, Dinesh had secured a job with a private company  and was to join work on the very day he died.

The petitioner's affidavit before the court further alleged that no First Information Report (FIR) was registered despite several representations and that custodial safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court in the D.K. Basu and Nilabati Behera cases were not followed. It also pointed out that Inspector Flower Sheela had previously been censured by the High Court for misconduct but continued to serve in the same post.

Meanwhile the state police transferred the officer. 

Selvakumar sought a direction to the CBCID to register and investigate the case under relevant sections of the IPC and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, interim compensation of ₹25 lakh to the victim's family, and government employment to one eligible family member.

Police, however, have denied the allegations of custodial torture. They maintain that Dinesh escaped from custody and accidentally fell into a water body, resulting in his death.

Only recently, Ajit Kumar, a security guard in neighbouring Sivaganga district died of alleged custodial torture by police.