HC: Complete custodial death case prob by Jan
 

Oct 26, 2021, 04:06 IST
 

Madurai: The Madras high court on Monday asked the CB-CID to take steps to complete the investigation into the Avaniyapuram custodial death case by January 2022.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and justice M Duraiswamy asked the agency to expedite the investigation, after the state informed the court that the CB-CID probe was still underway in this case.

It maybe recalled that a youth Balamurugan who was accused in the abduction of R Parthiban, a resident of Villapuram Housing Board for a ransom of Rs 20 lakh, was arrested by the police. Balamurugan, who sustained injuries in police custody at the Avaniyapuram police station succumbed at the Government Rajaji Hospital in 2019.

Balamurugan’s father Muthukaruppan had filed a writ petition before the HC Madurai bench in 2019, seeking a probe into the custodial death of his son. Subsequently, Muthukaruppan withdrew his petition by changing the counsel.

Henri Tiphagne, the counsel who earlier appeared for Muthukaruppan, in a letter to the court in 2019, indicated that the police officers are coercing the parents of the deceased not to depose against the police officers. He also alleged that the petition was withdrawn by the father of the deceased because of threats from local police. He also submitted several audio recordings in a sealed cover to the court.

Since Muthukaruppan withdrew the petition, the court had initiated suo motu proceedings in this case.