Madurai: Madras high court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction at the CB-CID investigation into the 2019 Avaniyapuram custodial death case in Madurai district. A division bench of acting chief justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana observed that the custodial death of the youth happened on October 25, 2019. An FIR was registered but investigation was not completed even after two years.

The judges observed that after going through the records, they cannot record satisfaction at the manner in which the investigation was conducted. It was not just about the delay but the lapses on the part of the investigating officer despite the case being transferred to CB-CID. The judges said they are not going to make further comments on the investigation since an assurance was given before the court that the CB-CID would complete the investigation and file the final report before December 31. The case was adjourned to January. The court took serious view of the delay in completing the investigation after the state informed that CB-CID officials collected CCTV footage of Avaniyapuram police station only this month.

The victim, Balamurugan, was arrested by police as an accused in the abduction of R Parthiban, a resident of Villapuram Housing Board, for a ransom of Rs 20lakh. Balamurugan sustained injuries in police custody at Avaniyapuram police station and died at Government Rajaji Hospital. His father Muthukaruppan had filed a writ petition before HC Madurai bench in 2019 seeking probe into the custodial death, but he withdrew it by changing the counsel.