Kerala govt orders judicial probe into alleged custodial torture of prisoner who died in Idukki jail

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Friday ordered a judicial probe into the alleged custodial torture and death of a remand prisoner in a jail in Idukki district, days after the issue rocked the state. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. AFP[/caption] The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. Announcing the decision, Vijayan said former Kerala High Court judge K Narayana Kurup will probe the incident relating to the death of 49-year-old Rajkumar in police custody and file a report within six months. Two policemen, a sub-inspector and a civil police officer of the Nedumkandam police station, where the incident took place, have been arrested . Vijayan said the Crime Branch investigation in the case will continue. Such an incident could not be justified, the chief minister said. The opposition Congress-led UDF had raised the issue in the Assembly and demanded a judicial probe. Rajkumar’s mother and relatives had led a protest march to the state Assembly on Thursday seeking a CBI probe. The deceased was taken into custody in connection with a financial fraud case on 12 June and allegedly tortured by police personnel at the Nedumkandam police station for four days, following which he died at the Peermedu sub-jail. The post-mortem report of the deceased and the remand report of the two arrested police personnel had confirmed that Rajkumar was brutally tortured and had several injuries on his body.