'Bloodstains on lathis, no CCTV footage': P Jayaraj and Fenix thrashed all night by Sathankulam Police personnel, finds Judicial Magistrate’s report

Tuticorin: Personnel at the Sathankulam police station in Tuticorin thrashed a deceased father-son duo the whole night there, with lathis used for allegedly assaulting them and a table carrying bloodstains, a woman head constable attached to the station has told a judicial probe. Mentioning Head Constable Revathy’s statement in a four-page report to the Madras High Court Madurai Bench, the Judicial Magistrate probing the deaths said she feared to receive threats if she revealed the facts. The Madras High Court, which has taken up the matter of the death of P Jayaraj and Fenix , alleged victims of police torture, had on Tuesday transferred the probe to the CB-CID under DSP Anil Kumar. It had also ordered protection for Revathy and her family. In her statement, Revathy told the JM that the two persons were “beaten up the entire night by police personnel there (Sathankulam PS) using lathis.” “..due to this there were bloodstains on the lathis and a table and she said they (stains) should be collected immediately as they (policemen) could try to erase them,” the report said. The JM alleged non-cooperation by the personnel at the police station, including when he sought handing over of the lathis and said the cops heeded to his demand only after being ‘compelled’. One of them even fled the place by scaling a wall when sought for his lathi. He further submitted that Revathy did not sign on her statement immediately and did so after a long time upon being assured of her safety. Her statement was “recorded carefully”, even as she was apprehensive of receiving a threat if she revealed the truth. The JM said that throughout his stay at the station on 28 June, the police did not cooperate and one of them displayed “macho and intimidating body language”, even as a constable made disparaging remarks against him later. [caption id=“attachment_8543241” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File images of Jayaraj and Fenix. News18 Malayalam[/caption] Incidentally, three personnel, ASP D Kumar, DSP C Prathapan, and the constable Maharajan had on Tuesday appeared before the High Court on being summoned by it over the matter. The constable told the court he was “overstressed” and had made the remark against the Judicial Magistrate by mistake. The JM further stated that the settings of the CCTV hard disk in the police station, despite having sufficient space of one terabyte, were configured in a way that the day’s footage will be “automatically deleted.” The High Court had earlier said that from the report filed by the Judicial Magistrate, it was able to discern that the Sathankulam police were taking advantage of the fact the investigation of the case was in limbo and were attempting to cause the disappearance of evidence. They were emboldened enough to even intimidate the JM during the investigation in the station, Justices P N Prakash and B Pugalendhi had noted. The original statement of the Revathy should also be given to the DSP Anil Kumar. Jayaraj and his son Fenix, arrested for ‘violating’ lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on 23 June, with the relatives alleging that they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station by the personnel earlier. The incident had triggered a nationwide furor, leading to the suspension of five policemen, including an inspector and two Sub-Inspectors. The Superintendent of Police had been shunted out of Tuticorin and put on compulsory wait. All the personnel posted at Sathankulam police station earlier have been transferred out. The probe into the case has been since transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Tamil Nadu government, though the Court transferred the case to the CB- CID till CBI took over, fearing evidence may disappear.