Santhakulam custodial deaths: Complicity of seniors should be probed

CHENNAI/MADURAI: As the CB CID investigation into the custodial torture and subsequent deaths of P Jeyaraj and J Beniks of Sathankulam is progressing, lawyers and traders have demanded setting up of a special court for speedy trial of the arrested policemen.
Transferring the case to the CBI would further delay the investigation and trial, said former public prosecutor for Puducherry government in the Madras high court, A P Suryaprakasam.“The CBI will start the probe from the beginning once again. Instead, the CB-CID should be allowed to complete the investigation. A fast-track court should be set up to hear the case on a daily basis,” he said.
TN Vyaparigal Sanga Peravai president A Muthukumar, from Peikulam village near Sathankulam, said speedy trial alone would render speedy justice. Back in 2011-12, a murder casetrialwascompletedby a fast-track court in just seven days and the accused was given life sentence, said former special public prosecutor for human rights court in Chennai, V Kannadasan. “It all depends on how fast the investigating agency files the chargesheet.Delaywill resultin the accused getting bail and influencing or intimidating witnesses,” he said. The probe should also cover suppression of facts about torture and destruction of evidencein whichthecomplicity of senior officials was evident, said Kannadasan.
The TN police have an established mechanism to gather intelligence from every corner of the state . The district SPs have special branch wing under them, which gathers information. Almost every police station has an SB constable attached to it and in some cases SIs, who report to the district SB office, which in turn reports to the SP. In the past, when instances of custodial deaths were reported in districts, many SPs made it mandatory for SB staff to gather information about the number of people kept in lockup and outside the station in the night. “Such practices had a telling effect on curbing custodial deaths. But it has long been discontinued,” said a DGP-level officer.
Yet another layer of intelligence, the Special Branch CID, which reports to the intelligence chief of the state police, has its presence acrossthestate. “It is not possible for anything like Sathankulam custodial torture to happen without the knowledge of SB and SB-CID staff. Though there is an unholy nexus between local police and SB and SB-CID staff as the local police give a share of the monthly mamool collection to the personnel from the intelligence wings, it’s unlikely that they would have hushed up facts of two deaths. The CBCID probe should find out who gave orders to hush up the case till the high court intervenes, because their role cannot be ruled out in destruction of evidence too,” said a DIG.