With the postmortem report revealing multiple injuries on the body of Vignesh, 25, who died in custody on April 19 at the Secretariat Colony police station, civil rights activists have demanded registration of a murder case against the policemen concerned.
Since Vignesh belonged to the Scheduled Caste, they have also demanded that provisions of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act be invoked.
The case is being investigated by the CB-CID. Besides, Judicial Magistrate Yashwantrao Ingersoll visited Puzhal Central Prison to record the statement of Suresh, who was detained by the police along with Vignesh on the night of April 18, sources said on Thursday.
Already Vignesh’s brother Vinod claimed the police offered ₹1 lakh to the family to buy their silence and the body was cremated instead of being buried.
People’s Watch-TN executive director Henry Tiphagne said the Chief Minister was misled on the case.
“Key witnesses are facing threat from the police. The family members are with us and we have informed the investigating agency that they would be produced as and when needed,” he said.
Alleging that the Madras High Court’s orders in Santosh versus District Collector, Madurai were not followed in the postmortem procedure, he said a copy of the autopsy report with video recording should be immediately given to the legal heir of Vignesh to seek legal recourse.
“The postmortem report was made available only on Wednesday. The findings clearly point to torture. No time should be wasted in registering a murder case and arresting the accused policemen,” Mr. Tiphagne said, speaking on behalf of a few other prominent lawyers supporting the victim’s family.
“We are told that Suresh has narrated the sequence of events after their arrest and torture by police to the judicial magistrate. This case is being investigated by a Deputy Superintendent of Police. Now that it appears to be a case of murder and the victim being a Dalit, an officer not below the rank of SP should be nominated,” he said.
V. Suresh, general secretary, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, said the attempts by the police to cover up the incident and pass it off as an accident were shocking. Besides the victim/family compensation fund, his family should be made aware of the right to choose a public prosecutor.
He demanded that an officer of unimpeachable integrity and demonstrated excellence should be appointed as the investigating officer.
The statements of the witnesses should be recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he said, urging the authorities to ensure statutory protection to safeguard the investigation and trial to render justice to the family.
