Custodial torture victim moves HC

Madurai: A private firm employee, whose teeth were broken by the suspended Ambasamudram assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Balveer Singh using a stone, has now moved Madras high court seeking documents like the FIR, remand report, arrest memo and medical examination report from a magistrate court.
T Arunkumar of Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district said he was employed with a private company in Bengaluru and that he was on a visit to his native place for vacation.While he was in the company of his friend Mahendran, the latter entered into a fight with his rival Subash. Following the clash, police arrested several persons from both sides, and it included Arunkumar as well.
He said that he was taken to Ambasamudram police station on March 10, where ASP Balveer Singh first made them undress. He said Singh then broke his teeth using a stone and also beat him up. He was remanded without any medical treatment.
Arunkumar had initially filed an application before Ambasamudram judicial magistrate court seeking documents such as FIR, remand report, arrest memo, arrest card, medical examination report and footnotes regarding the case in which he had been arrested. However, the magistrate court returned his application with an endorsement that the documents could not be furnished at this stage since a chargesheet has not been filed .
Noting that he had been subjected to custodial torture by Balveer Singh, the petitioner said his fundamental right to initiate proceedings in a court against the custodial torture had been curtailed. Assailing the rejection, he filed the present petition in the Madurai bench of high court seeking those documents. Justice G Ilangovan sought a report from the Ambasamudram judicial magistrate court and adjourned the case to March 21.