KOCHI: The controversial Rural Tiger Force (RTF) constituted by Aluva rural SP A.V. George has been disbanded in the wake of the death of Sreejith, 26, in the custody of Varapuzha police station a few days ago. The RTF was in the dock as members of the force had taken Sreejith into custody from his house on Friday night following a ruckus between two families that led to the alleged suicide of Vasudevan. Sources in the rural police said the decision to dismantle the force was taken in a meeting held under the District Police Chief, who constituted the force, on Friday night.
Rural SP George however denied dismantling of RTF squad. “The RTF it will function as earlier," he said. The RTF, a 10-member squad, received six good service entries for their performance in detecting narcotics cases in the past one year. Three members of the RTF — Jithin Raj, Santosh Kumar and Sumesh — were also suspended following the death of Sreejith in a hospital on Monday.
The RTF operating directly under the control of the rural SP comprised personnel from the armed reserve camp. The local sub-inspector and circle inspector did not have any power over them. A demand to disband the RTF was raised following the death of Sreejith. The police also suffered another setback in the case on Saturday with doctors who treated Sreejith ruling out the possibility of him suffering any major injuries before he was taken into custody. Sources said the doctors and members of the team that conducted the post-mortem told the probe team that Sreejith had suffered intestinal injuries, which might have led to his death.
The injuries suffered by the youth were not older than three days, the doctors said. The clashes took place in the forenoon on Friday and Sreejith was taken into custody after 11 pm proving that the injuries were not the result of the clashes. The probe team said more investigation was needed to ascertain whether the youth was tortured in custody. The team is also looking at the whereabouts of Sreejith before he was taken into custody.
